


Into the Brighter Night

by Gefionne



Category: Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Anal Sex, Experienced Hux, M/M, Masturbation, Mutual Masurbation, Oral Sex, Prostate Massage, Rimming, Voyeurism, benarmie, virgin ben
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-23
Updated: 2018-10-30
Packaged: 2019-03-08 17:36:24
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 25,418
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13463178
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Gefionne/pseuds/Gefionne
Summary: During a diplomatic summit between the First Order, the New Republic, and the New Jedi, Ben Solo encounters Lieutenant Armitage Hux and is immediately taken. Though he doesn't have a plan, he sneaks out to Hux's tent that night and catches him in a private moment.Six nights Ben Solo warmed Hux's bed.





	1. First Night

_Out of the dark day, into the brighter night._  
"Dream State," Son Lux

 

The First Order’s delegation had arrived that afternoon, landing their shuttle on the outskirts of the camp where the negotiations would be taking place. This planet was neutral ground, allowing all three factions—the Order, the New Republic, and the New Jedi—to gather here. Ben wasn’t really a part of it, but as Luke’s oldest apprentice, he had been required to come along. He had expected a ship full of older diplomats and military higher-ups, but when the young lieutenant had stepped down from the ramp, Ben’s attention had been drawn right to him.

He was introduced as Armitage Hux, son of the general who was also in attendance at the meetings, and he appeared unfazed by the presence of his seniors and betters. He sat by impassively while his father negotiated with Ben’s mother, across the massive tent from Ben, who could not look away from him. Ben rarely traveled outside of Luke’s school, and he had never seen a man with Hux’s coloring. It was beautiful.

They didn’t get terribly far in the negotiations on that first day, but they ate amicably enough before they were all shown to their tents, where they would sleep. They were large enough to sleep three or four, but they were all given their own. Ben, though he wasn’t overly tired, changed into his sleeping clothes and lay down on the piles of cushions that served as a bed. It was far too hot for blankets.

He spent nearly an hour tossing and turning, unable to sleep and unable to stop thinking about Lieutenant Hux. He had said nothing to Ben, but Ben wanted nothing more than to speak to him, or even just see him again. He paused, thinking. It was a foolish idea, but before he could reconsider, he was rolling out of his tent.

Barefoot, Ben crept out of his tent and toward the edge of the encampment. He had seen Hux go this way, he was sure of it, but what exactly he planned to do when he got to his tent he didn’t know. Hux would probably be asleep, and there would be no point to this. Ben didn’t just want to watch him sleep—did he?

The lush grass was cool against the soles of his feet as he padded along. Most of the heavy outer curtains were drawn over the entrances to the tents, but as he reached the last one, the one closest to the cliff, he saw that they were still pinned back, the translucent wisps of inner curtains billowing in the breeze that blew more strongly this side of the camp. Ben approached timidly, uncertain what he would find inside. He ducked into the shadow of the pinned-back curtain, affording him a view of the interior of the tent, but concealing him sufficiently that he would go unseen by the occupant. Carefully, he peered inside.

The other side of the tent was open, too, allowing the air through and also the moonlight. It shone down on the pile of cushions on the floor, exactly like the ones in Ben’s own tent. Ben partly expected to find this exposed tent empty, but the moon illuminated the bare white chest of the man lying inside. His red hair was instantly recognizable.

Ben thought that he was sleeping peacefully, but then he moved, leaning his head into the pillow behind it. His eyes were closed, and yet Ben knew he was awake. Ben nearly turned and scampered away when he shifted his body toward the opening of the tent. When the light caught the rest of him, though, Ben was stuck to the spot.

Hux was naked, his long, slender legs stretched out among the cushions, toes splayed for a moment and then curling. Ben gazed up from them to his knees and thighs, to their juncture. Ben barely caught himself before he expelled a shocked breath. Hux had his elegant hand wrapped around his cock, and he was stroking himself languidly. Ben’s mouth fell open, and though he knew he should look away, he couldn’t. Hux was pleasuring himself with his tent half open, seemingly without a care. It was the most erotic thing Ben had ever seen.

Hux used his left hand on his cock, but the right kept equally busy. He was touching his sides with his fingertips, where Ben could just see the outlines of his ribs. The skin over them pulled taut and smooth; Ben wanted to touch it. Hux trailed his fingers up to his chest, over his flat pectorals and to the peak of one nipple. He rubbed his thumb over it, his lips parting. Ben wet his own, dry from breathing so heavily through his mouth. His cock was hardening in his sleep trousers, tenting them.

The noise Hux made—throaty, almost a moan—hit Ben like a punch to the stomach. He was desperately aroused, captivated by the planes and shapes of Hux’s body as he traced them with his fingers. How Ben wanted those fingers to be his own, or, even better, his lips. He had only dreamed of putting his mouth on someone else, never having even kissed another of the boys at Luke’s school, but he could almost taste Hux’s skin from here. It was so hot that night, but surely he would be even hotter. They would sweat together, slick and hungry for each other’s touch.

Ben pressed the palm of his right hand to his cock, willing himself not to give in to what he really craved: to take hold of himself and seek his pleasure in time with Hux. Hux wouldn’t know, wouldn’t even suspect, but it could be something they could share. Ben wanted to share something, everything with him.

Hux continued to work his cock, but now his fingers were in his mouth, two of them up to the third knuckle. He pushed them in and pulled them out again, a string of saliva hanging between their tips and Hux’s tongue. Ben ached to know that tongue, or to have the fingers in his mouth. He’d take them deep, sucking on them with unabashed greed. His cock throbbed; he was losing control fast.

It shattered completely when Hux parted his legs and slid those fingers between them and behind his testicles. He made another deep sound as, Ben assumed, he penetrated himself. Ben fumbled blindly with the ties of his sleep trousers until he could get his cock out. He grabbed himself roughly, giving a squeeze that brought sweet relief. He was bigger than Hux was, not that Hux seemed small—maybe just an inch or so shorter than Ben, and more slender.

Ben never took his time when he pleasured himself, but he was mesmerized by the way Hux did, bringing his whole body into it rather than just stroking his cock and being done with it. Ben was ashamed of himself; it seemed so much more grown up to draw it out, and he wanted to be that. He wanted Hux to see him as a man, not a boy with a padawan’s braid and clumsy too-big hands. He wanted Hux to want him.

He wondered what Hux was thinking of as he took his fingers. Did he imagine kissing someone, like Ben did, or did he think of more, like someone else opening him up for their cock? Ben had had a complete sexual education thanks to a collection of medical holos Luke had made all the apprentices watch, so he was fully aware of what it took for two men to be together. He was a little afraid of it, if he was being honest, but watching how Hux enjoyed it made him want to try. It also made him want to be the one with his fingers inside of Hux, and then his cock.

Ben kept his hold on himself, moving his hand at the same pace as Hux was. Hux’s back was curving up, his head thrown back as he panted. Ben could hear his breathing perfectly well. It was really shameless; anyone in the other tents could have heard, or seen.

_Maybe that’s what he likes: being watched._

Ben didn’t think so, though. He wasn’t doing this for anyone but himself. But it was stunning, and Ben was privileged to witness it.

Hux drew his fingers away, and Ben was almost disappointed, but then Hux rolled up onto his knees, presenting Ben with a view of him in profile, his lean back tabletop flat. His cock was hanging between his legs, and Ben wished he was lying beneath him with it just at the level of his mouth, waiting for Hux to dip into it. Ben squeezed himself hard, thumbing the slit and feeling the drop of wetness there. He thought he was prepared for anything Hux would do next, but his knees quivered as he watched Hux reach back and slip his fingers back inside himself. His left hand was planted firmly on the cushions, but his right moved in and out, back and forth.

Ben had to be careful not to go too fast; he burned so fiercely with desire that a few hurried strokes and he would be coming. He couldn’t do that; he had to see Hux to completion.

Hux was hanging his head, disordered hair falling over his brow and into his eyes. He was pushing his hips back onto his fingers. _Fucking them_ , Ben thought. Stars, he wanted to be the one Hux was pressing onto. Ben would be so good for him, make him squirm and gasp as he was now, alone. He was sure he could do it, and his cock jerked in his hand at the thought.

Hux stayed on his knees for only a little while longer before lying back down and taking hold of himself again. He went faster, clearly set on bringing this to an end. Ben sped up with him, willing himself to keep in check. Hux had to come first; he just had to. Ben would break if he didn’t see it.

The sound of skin on skin filled Ben’s ears as Hux stroked himself, now cradling his testicles in his right hand, even tugging a little, like Ben liked to do sometimes. Ben wished he could do it now, but he dared not pull his trousers farther down than he already had.

“ _Oh_ ,” Hux breathed, raising his hips and curling his toes once again. “ _Stars._ ” His whole body went taut as he climaxed, spattering his moonlit chest with his release. It glistened there, and Ben wanted to dip his fingers into it, lick them clean. He groaned.

“Who’s there?”

Ben froze, realizing what he had just done. He scrambled to tuck his cock back into his trousers; he wouldn’t run back to his own tent so exposed. But he had to go. _Now._

Before he could get even a pace away, though, the gauzy curtains were brushed aside and Hux, a towel around his waist and his chest clean, was standing there. Ben stared at him in horror, unable to move. It took a moment, but then recognition flashed in Hux’s eyes.

“You’re the Solo boy,” he said.

_Boy._ Ben flinched.

“What are you doing sneaking around out here in the middle of the night?” Hux asked. He spoke quietly, but with authority. If Ben were a year or two younger, he might have been afraid of him.

“I—” Ben croaked. “Walking.”

Hux’s gaze darted down to Ben’s untied trousers, which were hanging off of his narrow hips and did nothing to conceal that he was still half-hard. Ben could feel his face heating up with mortification. He was staring at his feet, but he was forced to look back up when a pair of warm fingers curled around his chin.

“Surely your Master Luke taught you not to lie,” said Hux. There was an admonishment in the tone, but a quirk of his mouth betrayed his amusement.

Ben swallowed, struggling to find his voice. “I’m sorry,” he managed. “I just wanted to talk to you...I think. I didn’t mean to see...to watch…”

Hux raised one red brow. “How much did you see?”

“All of it,” Ben said.

Hux released his chin, but took a piece of Ben’s forelock and twirled it around his finger. His right finger. “Did you like it?”

Ben nodded mutely.

“Yes,” Hux said. “I think that’s rather evident.”

Ben nearly yelped when Hux’s left hand came between his legs. He rubbed lightly at Ben’s erection.

“Why don’t you come inside?” he asked. Taking him by the wrist, Hux drew him through the sheer curtains and onto the cushions. “Sit down. What are you called again?”

“Ben.”

Hux sat, too, across from Ben, but close enough that their knees touched. “Ben. It suits you.” He set his palms on Ben’s thighs. “Do you make a habit of spying on people in their most intimate moments, Ben?”

“No,” Ben said hurriedly. “I’m sorry, really. I should have just gone.”

“But you didn’t,” said Hux. He gave Ben’s crotch a pointed look. “And you were touching yourself.”

Ben was halfway between screaming and breaking down into tears, but he nodded again.

Hux’s smile was one-sided, but not condescending. “Have you ever been with a man?”

Ben, looking down, shook his head.

“I see. Well, I can’t very well leave you in this state, can I?” Hux chucked him under the chin once more, raising his face. He moved with feline grace, taking Ben by the shoulders and easing him back onto the cushions. Ben had no choice but to go, lying back. When Hux guided his legs apart so that he could kneel between them, Ben let him.

“Let’s see what we have,” said Hux, parting the loosened sides of Ben’s trousers and drawing out his cock. Ben trembled at the touch and at Hux’s murmured, “Oh, yes. That’ll do well.”

Hux’s fingers were long and slender, curling around Ben deliciously, better than his own had ever felt. He tugged slowly, and Ben had to bite his lip to keep from making a sound. Hux, though, hummed, looking up at Ben for the split second before he took him between his lips.

Ben clapped a hand over his mouth, stifling his cries. He had never felt anything like the wet heat around him now, the soft touch of Hux’s tongue on the underside of his cock, up to the tip, where Hux worried it. Ben’s hips jerked, but Hux took him without trouble. He swallowed him deep into his throat, though he couldn’t manage all of him. Ben took a strange pride in that. Hux used his hand where his mouth couldn’t reach.

Ben watched as his head bobbed up and down, yearning to put a hand in his hair but too shy to dare. So, he just lay back and let Hux suck him until he was shaking.

“I’m close,” he warned. “Really close. _Hux_.” He expected Hux to pull back, but he didn’t, and Ben couldn’t hold out any longer. His lower belly tingled as his testicles drew up, and then he was spilling himself into Hux’s mouth with a strangled gasp. Hux lapped at him in the aftermath, but not too much. When he pulled back, he was smiling again.

“Is that what you wanted when you came here tonight?” Hux asked.

“I never—” Ben tried. “I didn’t know what would happen.”

Hux chuckled. The towel around his waist was barely hanging on anymore, and Ben couldn’t help but look. Hux didn’t seem put off.

“Well,” he said, tucking Ben neatly back into his trousers and tying them closed again, “I should imagine you won’t be creeping about anymore.”

“No,” said Ben. “I won’t bother you again.”

“Now, now, nobody said that.”

Ben gaped. “W-What?”

Hux touched his jaw, moving down to his padawan’s braid and tugging it. “The First Order delegation is here for five more days, and I wouldn’t mind having a young man like you warming my bed while we’re here.”

_Man._ That was more like it.

Ben caught Hux’s hand—the left—and brought it to his lips. He opened and slipped the fore- and middle fingers into his mouth, depressing his tongue. Hux flashed his teeth.

“Yes, Ben Solo,” he said. “You’ll do _very_ well.”


	2. Second Night

Ben woke up feeling more deeply rested than he had in months. After he had left Hux’s tent—with shaky, pleasure-drunk steps—he had collapsed onto the cushions that made up his bed and fallen straight to sleep. He rolled out of bed in the morning and dressed hurriedly, splashing water on his face and cleaning his teeth before hastening to the largest tent, where the meals were served. Ben was an early riser, but he was shocked to find the entire First Order delegation already working on their breakfasts. Immediately, he sought Hux. He spotted him near the center of the communal table, though his bright hair was covered by a black cap sporting the insignia of the Order. He was focused on his food, not bothering to look up when Ben entered.

Ben made his way to the other side of that table, where there was empty space. He wouldn’t chance sitting beside the officers; he was far too wary. He was served his own plate of food, and not long after, Luke and members of the New Republic delegation joined him.

He attended the talks throughout the day, though he hung at the back and only half-listened. His mind and his gaze wandered again and again to Hux, who said very little during the discussions, deferring to his father, a barrel-chested man with a thick red beard and a booming voice. He sat upright and attentive, though, far more so than Ben. They hadn’t discussed when Ben would come to him tonight, or what they would do when he did. Ben didn’t dare approach him in the daytime; he had no reason to do so, and it would be marked by the others. Without guidance, Ben could only assume that he would be expected around the same time.

He took care with his appearance that night: combing his hair and rebraiding the padawan’s plait. His breath was as fresh as it could be, and he had washed between his legs. Clothed in his loose sleeping trousers and shirt, he sat in meditation until it was dark and most of the delegates were asleep. Then he slipped out into the night, toward Hux’s tent.

The moon was shrouded in clouds, making it more difficult to navigate the camp, but Ben found his way. He hesitated when he saw that the heavy curtains over Hux’s tent were drawn, but there was a sliver of light cutting across the grass; Hux had left a lamp burning. Ben went to the break in the curtains and whistled a bird call. At first there was no response from inside, but then: “Come in, Ben.”

Ben parted the curtains and ducked inside. The light was dim, but it took a moment for his eyes to adjust. He blinked as the tent came into focus. Hux was seated at the center, wearing only a pair of sleep trousers—black, as was everything the Order members wore. Gone was his cap, but his hair was perfectly slicked down, not a strand out of place. Ben dawdled by the entrance, staring, until Hux beckoned him closer. He went, kneeling in the space just in front of Hux, as though in supplication.

“My, don’t you look handsome,” Hux said, reaching out to touch Ben’s braid. He had put a bead at the end: blue glass, a gift from his mother. “Is this for me?”

Ben averted his eyes, mumbling, “I thought...maybe you’d like it.”

Hux spun the bead with this thumb and forefinger. “Is this the Jedi way of dressing up for an occasion?”

“It was just an idea,” said Ben, embarrassed.

“It suits you.” Hux tugged the braid until Ben was forced to move forward. “Do you want me to kiss you?”

Ben nodded, short but fervent, and Hux gave him an indulgent smile.

“Earn it,” said Hux, “and I will.” He released Ben and leaned back on his hands. “Take off your clothes. I’d like to see all of you.”

Ben’s hands trembled as he grabbed the back of his shirt collar and pulled it over his head. He wasn’t as skinny as he had been a few years ago, and he had grown into his shoulders. His arms, though lithe, were muscled from the exercises he and the other padawans did daily. He wasn’t ashamed of his body, but he desperately hoped Hux approved of it.

He set his shirt aside and began to untie the strings of his trousers. Under Hux’s appraisal, he was already hardening, which he didn’t mind. He wouldn’t be completely limp when Hux saw him. Ben untucked his legs and slid as nimbly from the trousers as he could, leaving him completely bare. He sat back up on his knees and waited.

Hux remained at a distance, but he looked Ben up and down. Finally, leaning toward him, he set his hands on Ben’s chest. “You’re quite something, aren’t you?” He answered his own question: “Yes, you are. However did you decide to come to me?”

“You’re beautiful,” Ben said before he could think of something better.

Hux chuckled. “Thank you. Did you see me looking at you today?”

Ben’s brows knit. “Not once.”

“Right,” Hux said, moving his hands up to the back of Ben’s neck. “And you were very good, too, keeping your eyes off of me. Was it difficult?”

“Yes.”

“Well, now you can look all you want.” He extended his legs and, raising his hips, slid his trousers down and kicked them away. In the lamplight, the hair on his thighs and calves was red-gold, but the skin beneath was pale and unmarked. Ben wasn’t told he could, but he set his hands at Hux’s ankles and began to slide them up. He stopped just as he reached his skinny thighs, unwilling to go farther, to his groin. Hux was half-hard already, skin just beginning to pinken.

“What are we going to do?” Ben asked. He turned his eyes up to meet Hux’s. “How are we going to…”

Hux blinked at him slowly. “What do you _want_ to do?”

Ben swallowed. He hadn’t expected to be asked; he thought he would be _told_. “May I touch you?”

“So polite,” said Hux. “Where do you want to touch me?”

“ _Everywhere_.”

Holding out a hand, Hux waited for Ben to put his into it. When he did, Hux drew him down to lie beside him on the cushions. They were almost of a height, though Ben was bigger. They lay looking at each other, maybe half a foot apart. Hux took the hand he still held and pressed it to his stomach.

“Touch,” he said.

Given license, Ben took it, tracing Hux’s side up to his shoulder and then back down to his bony hip. Ben rubbed his thumb over the hard ridge, following where it dipped in toward his belly. Hux sighed as Ben brushed his palm there, just below his navel. Ben bit his lip when he saw Hux’s cock jump. It was standing out from a well-trimmed patch of hair as red as that on his head. Ben had never trimmed his own, and was a bit ashamed of the thatch; but Hux hadn’t seemed to mind the night before.

Hux lay still but for his breathing and the darting of his eyes as he watched Ben explore his body. He was soft-skinned and warm all over. When Ben reached his cheek, he turned into the touch, closing his eyes. Ben’s heart stuttered. He was hardly paying attention to Hux’s hands, and started with a gasp when his fingertips brushed his cock. He traced the length from root to tip, drawing a circle there.

“Did you enjoy my mouth last night?” Hux asked.

“Yes,” Ben replied. “I thought maybe I could do that to you.”

Hux hummed. “Not tonight.”

He encircled Ben’s cock with his fingers, giving him two languid strokes. Ben breathed heavily through his nose in an attempt to keep control of himself. He couldn’t lose it too early, before Hux had even had an opportunity to really touch him.

“How do you touch yourself when you do this, Ben?” Hux said. “Do you like it hard and fast, or do you go slowly and tease?”

Ben fessed up: “As fast as I can. Somebody might hear.”

“Ah,” said Hux. “I see.” He kept working Ben as he talked. “We have the luxury of time and solitude here. I do hope you want to take advantage of it.”

“I do,” Ben said. “Anything you want.”

Hux’s smile was sharp as a knife’s blade. “Be careful what you offer. I’m wont to take.” Ben shuddered, and he knew Hux could feel it. “But you do want to give, don’t you? You’d let me take you now.”

“I—” Ben’s voice cracked. “I’ve never put anything _there_ before, but I would. If you wanted it.”

“Not even your fingers?”

Ben shook his head.

Hux moved his hand from Ben’s cock to his face, cupping his jaw. “You’ve been very sheltered by your Master Luke. I was well-seasoned by your age. But I’ve never had the pleasure of the untouched.”

“Show me,” Ben said quietly. “Please.”

Hux slid his thumb over Ben’s lips, which were opened to take him in. “In time. For now, I want you to put your hands on me and bring me off. Do you think you can do that?”

 _I think so._ “Yes.”

“Good. Go on.”

Ben moved between them to take hold of Hux’s cock. The skin was silken and moved delicately over the hardness beneath. Ben tried to remember how Hux had handled himself last night, but found the details were blurry in the immediacy of this moment. He just set to stroking, holding as tightly as he might himself.

“That’s right,” Hux said. “That’s very good.” His hand trailed down Ben’s front until he reached his groin. He toyed with the hair at the base of his cock before taking hold of him again. He mimicked Ben’s grip and speed, and they tugged in tandem.

It wasn’t sex as Ben had imagined it, but it set him alight. He shifted closer to Hux to get a better hold of him and to keep their wrists from knocking together. Hux changed his angle, too, and Ben groaned at the pleasure it brought.

“That’s the sound you made last night,” said Hux, “when you were outside, sneaking like a thief and watching me. Isn’t this better?”

“Yes,” Ben panted, hips rolling now to push his cock into Hux’s fist. “I’ve wanted this for years. And days...since I saw you.”

Hux paused to slide his thumb through the wetness at the tip of Ben’s cock. Ben’s stomach contracted, almost curling in on himself and Hux at once.

“Look up at me, Ben.”

He forced his head up until he could look Hux in the eye. Their brows were nearly touching and Ben could feel his breath on his face. It was mere inches and then Hux was kissing him. His lips were parted and his tongue slipped out to slick across Ben’s lower lip. Ben reacted right away and opened for him; they deepened the kiss.

Ben was burning from the inside out, both sharply aware of where Hux was touching him and also muddled by the pounding of his heart. He let Hux guide him, feeling lost and laughably innocent, but Hux didn’t seem to mind. He swept his tongue across Ben’s and up to the roof of his mouth, behind his teeth.

All the while, they were stroking each other, bringing Ben precariously close to the edge of orgasm. He clenched his free hand into a fist and squeezed his eyes tight closed. _Not yet. Not yet._

“Did you like the kiss?” Hux asked, just slightly out of breath. Ben could scarcely believe he had done that to him, affected him that way.

Ben once again replied with a simple “Yes.”

“Mm. How do you feel? Are you getting close?”

“Uh-huh,” Ben managed. “But I don’t want to yet. Not until you…”

Hux kissed him again, lightly. “Go ahead. We can take care of me when you’re finished.” He twisted his hand gently on the upstroke and Ben gave a choked gasp. “Good boy.”

Ben broke, tensing as the climax cut through him. He bent his head to Hux’s, eyes closed and breaths hurried. Hux stroked him through it, but not ungently. When Ben finally came down, he stopped, landing a soft kiss on Ben’s lips.

“Well done,” he said.

Ben wasn’t about to thank him, but he gave a short nod. He realized he was still holding Hux’s cock, though he wasn’t moving, and hadn’t been as he came.

“I didn’t mean to stop,” he mumbled.

“I know,” said Hux. “Here. Let go.” Ben released him and only then did he realize that Hux had caught his release in his hand; it was pooled in his palm. Hux flashed Ben a dark smile before he wrapped that hand around his cock. Ben’s mouth dropped open as Hux spread the fluid over himself.

“Give me your hand,” Hux said, and Ben did. Hux curled it around his own and began to work his cock. Together they pleasured him, small droplets of Ben’s release falling onto the cushions below. Ben was speechless, enthralled. Hux was making small sounds in his throat, mostly contained but beginning to break free as they sped their pace.

“So good, Ben,” Hux murmured. “Just a little more.”

Ben watched their joined hands moving up and down, the mess he had made slick between them.

“ _There_ ,” said Hux as his body jerked with his orgasm. Ben was quick to catch his come before it completely ruined the cushions. It was hot and viscous in his hand, more than he was used to.

Hux went limp in the aftermath, head falling back with a heavy, satisfied sigh. His neatly ordered hair had fallen from its place across his brow. Ben wanted to touch it, but both of his hands were besmirched. His sleep shirt was lying just a few inches away, so he grabbed it and wiped them clean. He had another back in his tent.

“I have towels,” Hux said drowsily. “You didn’t need to get your clothes filthy.”

“It’s fine,” Ben said, rolling back over to him and going for a kiss. Hux returned it, but without the desperate fervor of before. They lay in silence for a minute or so, until Ben was worried Hux had fallen asleep. “Do you want me to go?” he asked.

Hux’s eyes cracked open. “You can’t sleep here.”

“I know.” Ben chewed his lip. “Should I come back tomorrow night?”

Hux came awake in earnest then, sitting up on his elbows to look at Ben properly. “Do you want to?”

“Yes.”

“Then I’ll be waiting.” His expression softened and he said, “Kiss me goodnight, Ben.”

Ben leaned over and did so. He expected it to be a brief, but Hux delved in, tasting him again. Ben’s cock stirred. Given a few more minutes, he might have gone again. But Hux drew back.

“Tomorrow,” he said, as Ben snuck back out into the night.


	3. Third Night

The meetings between the First Order, the New Republic, and the New Jedi, despite being on neutral ground, were not going well. Those that Ben had sat in on that morning had devolved into name-calling and shouts by the time lunch came around. All in attendance had gone together to the dining tent and eaten in near silence, the tension vibrating through the room like the hum of a hyperdrive. Ben had kept his eyes on his plate, still too young to get involved in the politics and too old to avoid the responsibilities of paying attention to it. He was, however, immensely relieved when an afternoon recess was called and he was free.

His lightsaber had been tucked into his rucksack inside of his tent—weapons were left out of the meetings—but he retrieved it now, taking it with him to the top of a grassy bluff overlooking the sea beyond. The sleeping tents were behind him, most of them unoccupied at this hour. Powering up the saber, he drew it to middle guard and held himself there, steadying his breathing and preparing his katas. They were muscle memory now; he didn’t even need to think about them, but he always took the time to center himself before he began.

The blade of the saber sliced through the air in the first swing, leaving a kind of static charge behind it, the smell of ozone. Ben was accustomed to it now, and barely noticed, but others who were close enough to a drawn saber remarked on it. The only smell Ben could sense was that of the singed practice dummies he sliced through during combat drills. It wasn’t often he was permitted to spar with the other padawans; they were all much younger and smaller, and he was by far the most fearsome swordsman in the New Jedi. Even Uncle Luke admitted Ben was already a keener fighter than he was, and sometimes it worried him. Moreso, perhaps, he worried about the kind of battle rages that Ben succumbed to when he fought. Ben tried to control himself through these katas, but he struggled not to see red when there was an opponent in front of him.

He went through the motions by rote, swinging and stabbing with the saber until his tunic was sticking to the sweat at his back and fat drops of it were rolling down his face. What little breeze there was offered scant coolness, so he lifted the tunic away before resuming his drills. By the time he was finished with the routine, he felt better than he had cooped up in the meetings. He wasn’t built for diplomacy.

“Impressive display.”

Ben came around to see who had spoken and found Hux standing a few feet away. His uniform was in perfect order, cap on his head, and he looked unaffected by the heat of the day. Ben wondered how long he had been standing there. He still held his saber at his side as he looked Hux over and was appraised in kind.

“I’ve only heard of the lightsaber,” Hux said. “Never seen one in person.” He took a step closer. “May I have a look?”

Ben met him halfway, careful to point the weapon away from him. Hux surveyed the blue blade, bright even in the sunshine on this planet.

“It’s beautiful,” he said. “And you’re good with it.”

“I made it myself,” said Ben.

One ruddy brow rose. “Did you? That’s very interesting. Is that the custom among the Jedi?”

“Yes.”

“Mm, fascinating.” Hux put out a hand. “May I hold it?”

No one save Ben had ever held his saber when it was powered on. He had always hated to think of it in anyone else’s hands. But in Hux’s...

“Be careful,” Ben warned, but he lifted the weapon until he could safely transfer it to Hux’s palm. His long fingers—those that had been around Ben’s cock the night before—curled around it in a way that Ben should not have found as erotic as he did. His grip, though, was wrong. Ben reached out and guided his hand into the right position: a steady, strong hold.

“I can see why this is so legendary,” Hux said, though he didn’t sound overly reverent, as some people did. “It’s a remarkable thing.” His gaze turned to Ben. “And more so in _your_ hands.” He held it out and Ben took it back, retracting the blade and hanging it from his belt. Hux didn’t move away from him.

“I’ve been thinking about you,” he said softly.

Ben’s stomach flipped in his gut, struck by that tone; Hux had used it to order him out of his clothes and onto his back, to take Hux in hand and stroke him off. Ben was sure Hux could get him to do anything if he just spoke that way.

“These meetings are growing tedious,” Hux continued. “Don’t you think? We’re not coming to any agreement. I imagine it will be fruitless in the end. So, I’ve let my mind wander some.” With his forefingers, he pulled down on Ben’s bottom lip. “How fine you’d look with my cock in your mouth, Ben Solo.”

Ben parted his lips, allowing Hux to slide his fingers into his mouth, depressing his tongue. Ben sucked at them, his body now hot with interest rather than exertion. Hux’s fingers tasted of the fruit they had been served at lunch: sweet but a little tart. Ben liked it, but he was sure Hux’s cock would taste better. Boldly, cupped between Hux’s legs, feeling him through the fabric; he wasn’t hard.

“Ah-ah,” Hux scolded, canting his hips away. “Not here. Not until tonight. I have plans for you.”

Ben groaned around the fingers in his mouth, eyes closed for a moment. When he opened them again, Hux was smiling with the confidence of a predator. With his free hand, he twined Ben’s braid around his forefinger and tugged almost painfully. Ben felt a jolt in his groin. Even if Hux wasn’t hard, Ben was getting there.

Hux thumbed the blue bead still at the end of the braid. “What would your Master Luke say if he knew you were spending your nights with me? Is it true Jedi are meant to be celibate?” He withdrew his fingers so Bed could speak.

“We’re not supposed to have attachments,” Ben said. “But there’s nothing in the code about sex.”

He had read many of the ancient Jedi texts, and copied them for preservation; none spoke of what was permitted or forbidden to them when it came to lovers—as long as they weren’t kept on for long. That Ben knew Hux wouldn’t be. They had only these nights together before he disappeared back into the First Order, and Ben would never see him again.

“Well, then,” said Hux, “you’re doing nothing particularly naughty, are you? Shame. I had hope I was corrupting you in some way.” He flashed his teeth. “But you’re still barely touched. I plan to change that tonight.” He stepped back then, leaving Ben bereft. “Until later.”

Ben watched him walk away, staring raptly at his back. When he was gone, Ben returned to his katas, hoping that would let him focus on the rest of the meetings, and dinner—everything until he could join Hux in his tent again.

****

The night was sticky-hot, with no wind to stir the stagnant air. Ben had dressed in clean clothes after bathing and cleaning his teeth, but left his shoes off as he stole across the camp to where Hux was waiting. The now-familiar sliver of light shone on the grass at the edge of the tent flap, and Ben didn’t bother to announce his presence before he entered.

Hux was seated at the center of the tent in nothing but a pair of black briefs, holding a datapad in his right hand. He barely even glanced up as Ben stepped inside, instead pointing to the corner, where a slender bottle was standing. “Bring that,” he said.

Ben went to retrieve it and then sank down on the cushions next to Hux. He dared not touch him—not yet—no matter how much he wanted to. He tried to discern what was in the bottle, but it was unlabeled.

Hux, though, informed him: “It’s plum wine. Have a sip.”

Ben had never been permitted wine before, even though his mother sometimes drank it when he was visiting her on Hosnian Prime. Carefully, he uncorked the bottle and tipped it back to drink. The wine was strong, but also sweet, leaving a sugary taste on his tongue.

“What do you think?” Hux asked. “It’s not bad for this backwater.”

“I like it,” Ben replied.

Hux chuckled. “Good. Then it will serve.”

Ben didn’t know what for and Hux didn’t offer an explanation, but he did set down his datapad at last and look properly at Ben.

“Ah,” he sighed. “A drink is just what I need after today’s bloody mess of negotiations. A strong drink, and your company.”

Ben suppressed a grin of satisfaction, but Hux saw right through him, laughing quietly again.

“Take your clothes off, Ben,” Hux said. “Let me look at you.”

Quick to comply, Ben stripped off his shirt and tossed it to the side, his trousers quickly following. He wore no undergarments. Hux looked him up and down, clearly pleased with what he saw. Ben’s chest filled with pride at being appreciated, and his cock began to harden. Hux rolled up onto his knees and reached for Ben’s cheek, pulling him in for a kiss.

“Not so fast,” Hux said when right away Ben went to put his tongue into Hux’s mouth. “We have time for that.”

So, Ben backed down, going more leisurely into the kisses, just pecks and nips at Hux’s lips.

“Lie back,” Hux said, guiding Ben down onto the cushions.

Ben went, watching Hux hover above him all the while, looking both smug and ravenous. He planted a kiss at the divot of Ben’s collarbones before leaning over to get the bottle of wine from where Ben had left it.

“Hold still now,” he ordered. As Ben watched down the length of his body, Hux poured wine into his navel, letting a few purple drops drip up toward his chest. With a feral grin, he bent down to Ben’s stomach and licked up the wine.

“ _Stars_ ,” Ben breathed, shocked at the coolness of the wine and then the heat of Hux’s mouth.

Hux lapped at him until every bit of wine was gone, Ben’s belly glistening with his saliva. “Delicious,” he said. “Do you want to try?”

Ben nodded fervently and sat up. Hux reclined, pausing to slip out of his briefs before gesturing for Ben to take the bottle of wine. Ben wasn’t quite as neat with his pouring, and spilled some out of Hux’s navel and down his side. Quickly, he went to catch the drop, dragging his tongue up the trail.

Hux hummed in appreciation. “Go on, then,” he said. “Drink.”

The wine was even better like this, Ben decided, as he sucked it from Hux’s belly. Hux seemed to like it, too; from Ben’s vantage point, he could see his cock beginning to fill. He wanted to move to it, but he wouldn’t unless he was given permission.

“Another,” said Hux.

Ben poured more, neater this time, and licked it up dutifully. He stayed there, though, pressing soft kisses to Hux’s stomach. He was pleased when Hux’s hand came to rest at the back of his head as encouragement. Ben moved steadily down before looking to Hux with a question in his eyes.

“Yes,” Hux said. “Taste me.”

He was half-hard now, pink and enticing. With his hand, Ben eased the foreskin down until he could see the rest of him, and then lapped at the tip before sliding it into his mouth. There was a saltiness there, but otherwise he just tasted of warm skin. Ben took him deeper, but not deep enough to choke; he knew enough not to make a fool of himself.

Hux groaned and said, “That’s good. More of that.”

Ben was unsure, but he kept on, trying to mimic how Hux had pleasured him two nights ago. He knew he wasn’t as good, but he was, if anything, determined. Hux filled out in his mouth as Ben started to bob his head, careful not to catch his teeth. He used his tongue on the underside,  hoping Hux liked it.

From his place kneeling at Hux’s side, Ben could see out of the corner of his eye that Hux was teasing his left nipple with his fingertips, pinching and then circling, pinching again. His eyes were closed and he was breathing out of his mouth.

“More,” he mumbled. “Harder. Use your hand.”

Ben redoubled his efforts, taking as much of Hux as he could while gripping the base of him and stroking up and down.

“Good boy,”  Hux said. “Just like that.”

His toes were curling now, the muscles in his legs tightening. He had swallowed Ben’s release that first night, and Ben couldn’t help but wonder if he expected the same. Ben supposed he could do it, but it still seemed a bit revolting.

“Enough,” said Hux, startling him up from where he was bent over Hux’s cock.

“Is that wrong?” Ben asked.

Hux shook his head. He was pink in the cheeks. “No. But I’m neglecting you. I can’t do that.” He reached for Ben’s foot and tugged it toward him. “Put your feet up here, and lie down facing mine. Don’t go far, though.”

Ben was puzzled, but he did as he was bid, extending his legs in the direction of Hux’s head and lying on his side. Hux arranged himself similarly, though he shifted down until he was poised at Ben’s groin. When he met Ben’s eyes, he smiled slyly.

“Two can play at this game,” he said. Ben’s cock jumped as Hux nudged it with his nose, mouthing at the shaft. “You can go back to what you were doing.”

In an instant, Ben understood. Hungry for more, he bent down to Hux’s cock, taking it again into his mouth. At the same moment, Hux swallowed _him_ down, and Ben groaned. Hux was far better at this than he was, using tongue and lips and hand to drive Ben to the breaking point. Ben was fumbling in comparison, and he was ashamed to think he was doing poorly. If he was, though, Hux gave no indication; he was absorbed in his own work.

Electric sensation arced through Ben as Hux sucked him, making him shake and moan around the cock in his mouth. He lost track of time completely, held completely in Hux’s thrall. He could get used to this, to giving pleasure at the same time he received it. It was as potent as the raw Force, making him aware of all the places they touched, of the sounds Hux made and the minute shifts of his body.

Hux pulled away briefly to speak. “Stop for a bit,” he said, his voice a bit gravelly from having Ben down his throat. Ben loved knowing he had done that to him, but he paused and moved away from Hux’s cock. He watched as Hux rolled onto his back, surveying him with his hazy green eyes. “Come here,” Hux bid him, crooking his finger.

Ben shuffled over on his knees, not sure what Hux was asking. Hux ran a palm down his right thigh as he said, “Come sit over my face.”

“ _What_?” Ben asked, shocked. He had never heard of such a thing before, despite his otherwise comprehensive sexual education.

Hux’s amused expression never changed. “Don’t be shy. You’ll like this.” He patted his lips. “Come sit.”

Ben’s thighs were shaky, and he was afraid he would strike Hux with his knee, but he managed to get himself astride his head, facing Hux’s legs. He waited there, holding his breath and immensely relieved that he had bathed before he came here.

“Stars above!” he cried—too loud—when Hux dragged his tongue over Ben’s entrance. It was hot and damp and felt incredibly good. He hadn’t imagined anyone would want to put their mouth there, but it was _wonderful_. Hux paid diligent attention to that place, swirling his tongue and sucking just slightly, until Ben was willing himself not to writhe above him.

“Touch yourself,” Hux said, muffled against Ben’s ass. “Bring yourself off while I do this.”

That brooked no argument, Ben quick to wrap his hand around his cock and start stroking. Hux’s arms had been lying at his sides, but he took hold of himself now with his left hand and began to work, too. Ben was assaulted on all sides: Hux’s tongue now pressing past the muscles of his ass and _into_ him, his own hand on his cock, and watching as Hux pleasured himself. His head was spinning with sensation and desire and the question of how in the world he had ended up here, like this. Four cycles ago, he had been lying alone in his bed trying to will away the erection that he couldn’t see to when his uncle and companions were sleeping in the bunks nearby, and now he was seated astride Hux’s face while Hux lapped at him, feeling himself spiral up toward orgasm.

“ _Hux_ ,” he murmured. “I’m so close. Please don’t stop.”

He didn’t, instead pushing his tongue deeper into Ben, a strange but welcome intrusion. Ben’s stomach tightened as pleasure crawled up his back. His head began to swim, the world blurring as he pinched his eyes shut. He let out a hard, sharp " _Oh"_ as he came, spilling all over Hux’s chest. As the waves hit him, Hux persisted, licking at him until Ben could barely think. Part of him wanted to tell Hux he could stop, but the greedy part kept him from saying anything.

Hux gave a gasped half-grunt as he peaked, his face still buried against Ben. It wasn’t until his hand stilled on his cock and his body relaxed that Ben moved to sit up. Hux didn’t protest, so Ben swung his leg back over Hux’s head and collapsed onto the cushions beside him. There was the familiar post-climax contentment, but he was even more languid after everything that had happened.

“Hand me that towel, will you?” Hux said.

Ben reached for the neatly folded cloth at the edge of the cushions, but instead of giving it over, he wiped Hux’s belly and chest clean himself. When the spend was gone, Ben kissed between his flat pectorals and then up to his lips. Hux let himself be kissed, but didn’t move to hold Ben to him.

Moving back to lean on his elbow, Ben asked, “Where did you learn to do that?”

Hux laughed. “In the Academy, like any good recruit.”

“It’s amazing,” Ben sighed, still giddy.

“I’m glad you enjoyed it,” said Hux. “You’re very receptive. I like pleasing you.”

Ben laid his hand on Hux’s chest, circling his nipple. “I like pleasing _you_ , too. I didn’t do anything much tonight.”

“You did plenty,” Hux said. “I’m not complaining, if that’s what you’re concerned about.” He eyed Ben from his place beside him. “You needn’t be worried about me.” He breathed in, stretching out. “Now, you should go. I’m afraid we might have woken some of my neighbors, and we don’t want them to find you here in the morning.”

Reluctantly, Ben put his clothes back on. “I’ll come back tomorrow,” he said, this time without an questioning intonation.

“Yes,” said Hux. “You will.”


	4. Fourth Night

Another long day of talks ended at sunset, allowing Ben to finally escape the sweltering main tent to seek the solitude of his own. The heat of the day had left him sweaty and tense, once again made to sit quietly as his uncle spoke for the New Jedi and his mother for the New Republic. It still wasn’t going well, and no concessions had been made by the First Order. The only time Ben had perked up was to attend to the lieutenant who had stood to describe the training of young people in the Order; Hux claimed that it was not exclusively military, but no one really believed him. He was, after all, the pinnacle of military rigidity in his cap and uniform. But Ben knew he wasn’t all formality, not when his tongue had been inside Ben just the night before.

Once Ben returned to his tent, he stripped down to his undershorts and sat for a meditation. His thoughts inevitably wandered to what tonight’s visit with Hux might hold, but he managed to check himself and focus on the Force until it was dark. He went then to the showers, where he washed diligently, gave himself a fresh shave, and put on clean clothes. He gave his hair time to dry, combing it until it was sleek and soft, and rebraided the padawan’s plait. He rarely took this much care with his appearance, but he had never had a lover before.

 _Lover._  He liked the sound of that, even if he knew that his arrangement with Hux was only temporary. There wasn’t really another way to describe him; Ben shared his bed nightly, and would for at least three more nights.

When the moon was high in the sky and illuminated Ben’s path, he slipped out of his tent and across the camp to where Hux was waiting. Approaching, Ben whistled a bird call. From inside he heard a quiet, “Come in.” Invited, Ben brushed one flap of the tent’s front aside and went in. Hux was kneeling on a cushion at the center of the tent, naked but for a pair of black shorts. He looked almost supplicant, as if praying, but the hungry way he looked at Ben betrayed that there was nothing reverent about his pose.

“There you are,” Hux said lowly. He extended a hand, summoning Ben to his side.

Ben went, falling to his knees as Hux fisted a hand in the front of his shirt and pulled him close for a deep kiss. Hux hummed into his mouth, already pulling at the tie at Ben’s side that held his wrapped shirt closed. As it fell open, Hux laid his hands on Ben’s chest, feeling the contours of him. Ben made an approving sound as Hux thumbed his nipples.

As they kissed, Ben felt Hux shifting slightly, as if rubbing against something. Curious, Ben trailed his fingers down from Hux’s navel to his groin, finding him already hard. Ben wasn’t more than halfway there himself, but his interest was piqued by Hux’s eagerness. He palmed Hux’s erection through his shorts and Hux groaned.

“I have something to show you,” Hux said against Ben’s lips.

“Hm?” Ben inquired, kissing down Hux’s jaw to his pulse point.

Hux tipped his head back to give him free rein. “It’s been agonizing.”

Ben pulled back, brows knit. “You hurt yourself?” he asked.

“Far from it,” Hux said, smiling slyly. “It was very pleasurable. Do you want to see?”

Ben nodded as Hux extricated himself from his embrace. He teasingly stripped out of his shorts, knowing what it did to Ben to see him bare. Ben swallowed as he laid eyes on Hux’s cock, pink and enticing.

Hux chuckled. “Patience, Ben. I think you’ll like this.” Turning, he presented first his back and then, as he bent at the waist to rest his arms on the cushions, Ben saw a flash of red between his cheeks. Ben’s mouth dropped open; it was the contoured base of a plug seated inside him.

“I’ve been wearing it all day,” Hux said, his voice slightly muffled by his nearness to the cushions. “You can imagine how difficult it was not to get hard, especially during my presentation. But I wanted to be ready for you tonight.”

Ben was nearly speechless, but he tentatively reached out to touch the silicone base, finding it warm. Hux sighed.

“I thought it would make you sore if you wore it for so long,” Ben said.

“For someone out of practice maybe,” said Hux, “but I have a habit of putting it in for extended periods. It’s a pleasant distraction during my more tedious tasks.” He paused, lying on his folded arms. “Go on. Touch it. Draw it out some. That feels good.”

Willing his hand not to tremble, Ben hooked his fingers under the base and began to draw the plug out. It was widest near the bottom and Hux stretched around it. Letting go, Ben watched it slide back into him, gratified by the sound Hux made as it settled against him again. Ben was so hard it ached, but he didn’t care about himself while he had Hux on display like this.

“Do it more,” Hux bid him.

Ben complied, drawing the plug out halfway and then pushing it back in. “What did you mean when you said you wanted to be ready for me?” he asked, though he could guess at the answer.

“Don’t bother playing dumb, Ben,” Hux admonished. “You know what I want.”

Ben’s heart hammered in his chest. “You want me to”—he lowered his voice—“fuck you.”

“Such vulgarity,” Hux said, a smile in his voice. “Yes, that’s what I want. Do you object?”

“ _No_ ,” Ben was quick to say. He chewed his cheek, nervous, but added, “I just don’t want to disappoint you. It’s my first time, and...I probably won’t last.”

“I believe I have a way to manage that,” Hux said. “Now, take the plug out. I don’t want to wait all night.”

Gently, Ben pulled on the base until the plug slipped free completely. He wasn’t sure where Hux wanted it, but when he spotted a small cloth lying on the cushions, he put it there. Hux came back around to face him, putting his long fingers around the back of Ben’s neck, under his hair.

“Why don’t you lie down?” Hux said.

Ben removed his trousers and shirt first, tossing them aside before he lay down on his back. Hux came close, producing the bottle of lubricant, now half empty. He opened it and poured a generous amount into his palm. He watched Ben closely as he wrapped his hand around Ben’s cock and slicked him. Ben groaned, struggling already not to give in to the pleasure. He couldn’t imagine what it was going to feel like when he was inside Hux. He didn’t want to lose himself too quickly, but he was afraid it was going to be out of his control.

“Easy,” Hux murmured. “You’ll do just fine.”

“Okay,” Ben managed.

Hux released him and, bracing his dry hand on Ben’s chest, slung a leg over his hips. Taking hold of his cock again, Hux guided him to his entrance. Closing his eyes, he began to sink down, impaling himself on Ben. It wasn’t difficult for Ben to keep his own eyes open, so captivated was he by watching himself disappear into Hux. The soft pressure around his cock had him gasping, but Hux didn’t stop until he was fully seated.

“Oh, yes,” Hux said. “That’s perfect, Ben. How do you feel?”

Ben fought to get the words out: “It’s...incredible. Never felt anything like it.”

Hux looked down at him with a dark, desirous glint in his eyes. “I’d imagine not. You’re no longer a virgin. Do you like that?”

“Yes,” Ben said desperately. “Yes. Yes.”

“Good. I’m going to move now.”

As he rose up and sat back down hard, Ben barked a too-loud cry. Hux didn’t scold him, even though their neighbors could have easily heard. Instead, Hux just started to ride him in earnest, rolling his hips to bring Ben into and out of him. To ground himself, Ben reached for his waist. This time Hux gave a curt, “ _No_. Arms above your head. Hold your left wrist with your right hand.”

Ben did was he was told, keeping his hands away from Hux. He shook with the effort of it and with his feeble attempts at trying to hold back his orgasm.

“It’s too much,” he said as Hux took him deep. “I’m going t-to come.”

“Not yet, sweet Ben,” Hux countered. He slowed, rising up higher until he was taking only the very tip of Ben’s cock into him. It was utter torture, but it brought Ben back down from the breaking point.

His whole body was burning hot and the only thing he could focus on was Hux. He whined and moaned, pinching his eyes closed and then opening them again to take Hux in. He was stunning astride him, his ribs just visible under the pink skin. He wasn’t overly muscular, but Ben could see the tension and release in his abdominals as he moved. It was a struggle for Ben not to hold him.

With a long groan, Hux leaned forward and sought Ben’s mouth. Unable to stop himself, Ben slid a hand into the hair at the back of his head and held him close as they kissed. Taking a chance, Ben shifted his hips up to thrust into Hux as he was bent over him. Hux grunted, but didn’t tell him to stop. Ben took a firmer hold of him and thrust, though slowly. He wasn’t sure he could bear going any faster.

“I never could have expected you, Ben Solo,” Hux said quietly as Ben moved. “Untouched, but so eager, so willing. I’ve not been with anyone like you.”

The confession had Ben glowing with pride and satisfaction. Hux may have had many lovers before, but Ben was unique among them. He fed off that, doing his best to give Hux pleasure. Hux’s cock was trapped between their bodies, leaving a spot of dampness on Ben’s belly.

“You’re amazing,” Ben breathed. “I don’t know why you wanted me—”

Hux cut him off: “Because you’re gorgeous and you offered yourself without question. I don’t think you know how intoxicating that is.”

Ben preened at the compliment. Nobody had ever said anything of the like to him; he thought he was fairly plain. But Hux was so different in so many ways. Ben was already addicted to him.

Giving Ben a last kiss, Hux sat up again and took Ben’s cock deep. “How much longer can you hold out?” he asked.

“A few minutes, maybe,” Ben replied. “Depends on what you do…”

Hux gave him a ravenous smile. He said, “Touch me.”

Ben reached first for the lubricant, anointing his hand before wrapping it around Hux’s cock. Hux held mostly still on him as Ben began to stroke him, save for a minute shift of his hips.

“Ah, _there_ ,” Hux sighed.

Ben could feel the tip of his cock brushing inside of Hux with each small movement. It surely wasn’t much stimulation, but it seemed to be enough. He was hard in Ben’s hand and responded to each pass of Ben’s thumb over the sensitive underside. Ben worked him with intent and soon Hux was panting, his head thrown back. He was growing louder, too—loud enough to be heard in the next few tents. At this point, Ben didn’t care if someone walked in on them. He was so caught up in the moment that it would have made no matter even if his uncle or Hux’s father came calling.

Ben felt Hux clench around him as he climaxed. He cried “ _Ben, stars!_ ” as he came across Ben’s stomach in hot pulses. He barely took a moment to recover before he was riding Ben mercilessly, the sound of skin on skin filling the tent. Ben grabbed him by the waist at last and let him take charge. Ben called out to him as he came, spilling himself inside of Hux. Hux continued through Ben’s aftershocks, until Ben was so sensitive that he had to ask him to stop. Hux carefully eased Ben’s cock out of him and rolled onto his side next to him.

“How was that?” he asked.

“Better than anything I’ve ever done,” Ben replied. “You were incredible.”

Hux leaned on his elbow, tracing circles on Ben’s chest with his other hand. His come was still on him, growing cool. “You did extremely well,” Hux said. “I told you you could last.”

Ben laughed lightly. “You’re the expert.”

“You’ll get there, too,” said Hux, “with practice.”

Ben sobered, frowning. “I don’t know that I’ll have the chance for that. I’m going back to my uncle’s school, where things are...stricter.”

Hux eyed him. “You can’t leave?”

“I never have before. I’m still a padawan. We aren’t given much freedom.”

Hux asked, “How old are you, Ben?”

“Eighteen,” Ben replied. “I should be made an apprentice soon, but my uncle keeps holding me back, saying I’m still too subject to my emotions.”

“And that’s a problem?”

Ben nodded. “It’s not the Jedi way.”

Leaning over him, Hux braced his hands on either side of Ben’s head. “I see nothing wrong with the way you are. You’re passionate. The Jedi might not appreciate that, but _I_ do.”

Ben blinked up at him, struck. “I feel good here, with you. I feel...free.”

“I will always respect your freedom,” said Hux. “I don’t always have my own, either, but I can see you’re not something to be controlled.” He kissed Ben’s brow. “If I can give you a few hours of freedom, I’ll do it gladly.”

“Don’t send me away yet,” Ben said softly. “I know I can’t stay the night, but can I be here a little longer? Maybe we could”—he averted his eyes—“do it again before I go.”

Hux smiled. “Let me clean you up, and then we can share a glass of wine.”

They wiped themselves down with damp cloths and then lay back down on the cushions, both still naked. Ben put his head on Hux’s shoulder while Hux stroked his back, and they talked. Hux told him about growing up in the First Order. Ben explained the training he had gone through as a boy and through his adolescence. In doing so, he could feel the discontent that had been building for many years but had never been rightly identified. He didn’t look forward to going back to the school with Luke; he wanted the freedom Hux afforded him.

Hux allowed Ben to suck him off before he climbed atop Ben again and rode him to climax. It was nearing morning by the time they finished and, finally, Ben had to go. Hux dressed him with gentle hands before giving him a last kiss.

“See you tomorrow night?” Ben asked.

Hux stroked his cheek with the backs of his fingers. “Come, and I’ll make you free.”

Ben left him feeling lighter than he had in years. He would be exhausted at the meetings that day, but it was worth it; Hux was worth it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I commissioned the irreplaceable [gaylo-ben](https://gaylo-ben.tumblr.com/) to illustrate [Ben laid bare by Hux](http://gefionne.tumblr.com/post/175714670945/gaylo-ben-arms-above-your-head-hold-your-left) in this chapter. ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)


	5. Fifth Night

“Ben,” Uncle Luke scolded softly, “are you paying attention?”

He wasn’t, not in the least. He had been watching two young men in First Order uniforms as they conversed by the tent in which all of the delegations took their meals. One was round-faced and brown-haired and had the collar of his jacket undone and his black cap off. He moved his hands in inelegant gestures as he talked, free with his smiles. Compared to his companion, he looked slovenly.

Hux’s uniform was in perfect order and his cap on his head. He was standing straight as a rail, shoulders back and arms precisely at his sides. He carried himself with that unflinching rigidity when he was out among his fellows or the delegates from the New Republic and New Jedi, but Ben had seen him lying boneless on the red and purple cushions of his tent after he had taken his pleasure and given it to Ben in kind.

The other young officer was standing quite close to him, occasionally leaning in, as if to speak in confidence. As he did, Hux’s mouth turned up in amusement and he whispered something back. Ben burned with envy as he sat cross-legged on the grass under the auspices of meditation. He wanted to be the one to make Hux smile like that and say quiet, secret things to him. It would have been enough just to speak to him in the sight of the others—but Hux still wouldn’t permit it. They weren’t to even look at each other for long when they were observed.

“This is to be between us only,” Hux had said the night before, when Ben was resting his head on Hux’s bony shoulder while Hux finger-combed the knots from his hair. “I won’t have someone discover it and keep you from here. Wouldn’t your Master Luke forbid you coming to me if he were to find out you have been in my tent”—he touched along Ben’s side until he reached his bare ass, and squeezed—“like this?”

“He would,” Ben had replied, “but I don’t know how he would stop me.”

Hux had chuckled. “Suddenly defiant of him, are you? And on my behalf. I’m flattered.”

Ben had sat up then, looking down at him. He was pink from the night heat and the contact of Ben’s skin on his. There was a lethargy in his expression, but not the haze of half-sleep. Ben was held rapt, knowing Hux was absolutely right. He wouldn’t have gone against Luke’s command just four days before. Now, though, he was willing to do it so easily. He couldn’t face that without a little bit of fear for what Hux was making him.

“That troubles you,” Hux said, one palm coming to rest on Ben’s cheek.

Ben leaned into his hand. “I’ve never done anything other than what I’m told.” He met Hux’s eyes. “Won’t you be punished if you don’t follow orders?”

“My orders have nothing to do with who I bring to bed,” said Hux firmly. “I follow them when I must, bend them when I can—if it works to my benefit—but always, _always_ look out for myself first.” He guided Ben back down onto to his chest, cradling his head there.

“We’re taught to put others before ourselves,” Ben said. “My uncle says I’m too self-involved. That’s why I can’t put aside my emotions and truly become a Jedi.”

Hux’s voice resonated in his chest under Ben’s ear: “He implies you’re unfit to be a Jedi and yet you still heed his every word? Why?”

“I’ve never known any different,” Ben replied. “He’s the only Jedi master in the galaxy. Who else am I supposed to listen to?”

“It’s no small wonder you crave freedom,” Hux had said. He had nuzzled the top of Ben’s head. “Have it with me, here, but be careful in the day when he could see us. Out there, you belong to him, but here, you’re mine.”

“ _Ben_ ,” Luke said, more stridently. “Where are you? You’re barely hearing me, and you’re certainly not communing with the Force.”

Ben turned away from where Hux and the other officer were standing, focusing on his uncle. “I’m sorry,” he said. “I’ll do better.”

That was a familiar refrain for him; he said it more than he said anything else, he reasoned. _I’ll do better, Uncle. I’ll work harder. I’ll be a Jedi._ But some days he doubted he would—today, for one. Hux was the worst of distractions, but he couldn’t give him up—not when they only had two more nights together. After that...well, he would return to his training and to follow his orders, as Hux did when he had to.

Luke sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. “This summit is wearing on us both, I’m afraid. So little is getting done.”

Ben blinked at him, surprised. He never betrayed frustration when they were at the school; his was the most constant temperament of all. “It’s not going well,” Ben said, even if he already knew the answer. “Is it Mother, or the First Order?”

“Can I say that it might be both? Leia has particular expectations and very little willingness to compromise. She expects the First Order to fall in line, and they are not easily broken to her will.”

“They won’t give in unless it benefits them,” said Ben.

Luke raised a bushy grey eyebrow. “Perhaps you have been paying attention. You’re right. Nothing Leia offers them is a boon. They would be fools to capitulate, and she is getting more stubborn by the day. Nothing I say to her can change her mind. She’s always been that way.”

“Is it what’s best for the Republic?” Ben asked. “Or does the Order have it right?”

“Neither of them have all the answers,” Luke replied. “I support the New Republic, but my concern is for galactic peace more than one government over another. Leia offers the best option, as far as I can see it, but if it comes to conflict with the First Order, that peace is upset. That’s not in the service of the galaxy. So, I try to meditate. As much as is possible.”

Ben realized how tired he looked, and saw how much rested on the shoulders of the New Jedi. _I’ll do better. I’ll work harder. I’ll be a Jedi._ “Should we finish the meditation, Uncle?” Ben said.

“Yes. Let’s do that.”

 

****

 

Ben saw Hux again that night at dinner, but he kept his gaze away from him, instead listening to what was said at the table. His mother dominated the conversation among the delegates, as usual. She hadn’t spoken much to Ben over the course of the summit, but that wasn’t out of the ordinary. They barely talked much anymore, save for the holomessages Ben dutifully sent every week with updates about his training. She usually came to visit him only once or twice a year. Otherwise she was busy—always busy with the new Senate.

After the meal was over, Ben watched her go to yet another meeting without a word to him. Luke caught him out watching her and gave him a solemn look. Though they had fought together in the Rebellion and become good friends through it, there was still a great deal of distance between the twins. Leia still had the bearing and expectations of a princess and Luke the patience of a moisture farmer. They were incongruous at best.

“Are you going to retire to your tent, Ben?” Luke asked, catching him by the shoulder. “Or would you like to take a walk with me?”

Before Ben could reply, he heard: “I was hoping, Master Skywalker, that he would be willing to speak with me for a few minutes.” Hux stood a pace away from them, his cap held stiffly under his arm.

“Lieutenant Hux, is it?” Luke asked. He seemed unfazed, but Ben knew he was inspecting Hux from head to foot. “You’re the general’s son.”

“Yes,” Hux replied with crisp precision.

“What do you want with my nephew?”

Hux didn’t spare a glance for Ben, keeping his attention solely on Luke. “Only to hear more of your way of life. We’re almost of an age and I’m curious. I do hope he’ll indulge my curiosity?”

Baffled, Ben tried not to stare to openly at him and give himself away. He was playing some kind of game, but not one Ben knew the rules of. He couldn’t help but bristle, though, when Luke spoke for him, as if he had no voice of his own.

“I should imagine he would,” said Luke. To Ben: “Be forthcoming. We have nothing to hide.”

“Yes, Uncle,” Ben said, by rote.

Luke gave him a last pat on the shoulder before leaving him and Hux alone.

Ben dared look at him properly now. “What are you doing?” he asked, quietly.

Hux give him that same sly smile he had seen him give the other officer earlier in the day: conspiratorial. “I wasn’t in the mood to wait for full dark to have your company. I thought we might walk down to the beach together for a time.”

It could hardly be called that—it was no more than a strip of flinty rocks by the unsettled water of the sea—but Ben agreed. They kept an appropriate distance apart as they walked down the gently sloping hills to where water met stone. The purple-red sun was going down over the sea, a few cresting waves made pink by the fading light. It was so different here than it was on the planet on which Luke’s school was. Everything had a greenish hue there, from the fields of long grass to the evening sky, which turned vivid jade as evening came on.

“Are you all right?” Hux asked when their boots crunched onto the stones. “You’re tense. I can feel it from here.”

A little petulantly, Ben said, “How can you tell that?”

Hux wasn’t ruffled. “I’ve a keen eye. What’s the matter?”

Ben replied, “I know the summit isn’t going well. My mother is...the problem.”

“Not the only one,” said Hux. As they came nearer to the edge of the water, he stepped closer to Ben—closer than would have been acceptable. “My father and the Order’s old guard are recalcitrant at best. It was a long shot that these negotiations would yield anything, anyway. It’s no great loss to part on the same terms on which we arrived.”

Ben eyed him. “Do you know a lot about diplomacy?”

“No,” Hux said with a snort. “I’m a soldier, not a diplomat. And neither are you, or you might have spoken up in the meetings.” He stopped, forcing Ben to pull up short to keep from outpacing him. “What would you want to be, Ben, were you given the choice?”

Ben chewed his cheek. He had never been asked that kind of question before. “I’ve always been meant to be a Jedi,” he said. “I’m too strong with the Force to be anything else. I had to be trained or I might have been dangerous.”

“Dangerous?” Hux asked. “To whom?”

“Everyone,” Ben replied. “Being unable to control my abilities meant I could have hurt someone just by being upset. I used to break illuminators and glass when I cried as a baby. Someone like that can’t be allowed to just go on without training.”

Hux frowned, his narrow nostrils flared. “Does your uncle fear you and your abilities?”

Ben admitted, at last, what he had been keeping suppressed for maybe ten years: “I think so. Something’s not right with me. He won’t tell me what it is, but I just know. I’m...wrong.”

Luke treated him differently than all of the other padawans, held him back even when he excelled. He told Ben to keep control of himself more than the others; he singled him out at the same time that he pushed him to fit in. More than once, Ben had seen Luke watching him with outright concern, which he never showed to the other students.

“Oh, Ben,” Hux said softly. “There is nothing wrong with you.”

“You don’t know that,” Ben spat, suddenly angry. “You don’t know the Force. You barely know _me_. Just because I have sex with you doesn’t mean you—you…” He trailed off, turning away to face the ocean. He hated that his eyes burned, and he refused to show that kind of weakness to Hux.

Two long arms came around his waist and Hux kissed him behind his left ear. “I don’t know your Force, it’s true, but I’m not afraid of you. Do you want me to fear your power?”

“No,” Ben said. “I would never hurt you with it.”

“Then you know you have control of yourself,” said Hux, his chin resting on Ben’s shoulder. “Anything else Luke Skywalker is doing to keep you in check, now, is to control you and keep you from surpassing him.” He pressed himself up against Ben’s back. “My father is the same. He spits and growls at me because he knows I’m twice the man he is. He’s getting old and set in his ways. I’ll achieve more than he ever did, and he hates me for it.”

Ben had never considered that Luke might be afraid that he would fall by the wayside if Ben were allowed to rise to his potential. He hadn’t thought that he might be stronger than his uncle. Having stayed the furious tears, he turned himself around in Hux’s embrace. “You see me like nobody else,” he said. “I don’t understand how you do it.”

Hux’s smile was, this time, fond. “I’m a good judge of ability. It makes me a good commander.”

“What do you command?” Ben asked.

“Not much yet. But in time the whole First Order military will be mine.”

Ben warmed. “You said I’m yours, too, when I’m with you.”

Hux said, “No one has given you a choice before. I will, now. Do you _want_ to be mine, Ben?”

“Yes,” Ben replied, without the slightest hesitation.

Hux’s “Good” was spoken into Ben’s mouth as they kissed. Ben put his arms around Hux’s neck, holding tight to him, and Hux kept his hands at Ben’s waist. The hiss of the water against the stones made soothing accompaniment for their embrace. The sun sank and sank until the twilight made it difficult to see where the tide was coming in. Ben was shocked when the foam hit his boots.

“We should go,” Hux said. “Come to my tent?”

Ben couldn’t refuse, but he warned, “I’ve been sweating all day. I should clean up before we—”

Hux cut him off with an insistent kiss. “I like the way you smell, but if you’re worried, you can go. Meet me in a half hour?”

Ben liked knowing that even a day in the heat didn’t put Hux off of him; however, he wanted a shower. “I’ll be there.” He gave Hux a last kiss before dashing up the beach and toward the grass.

He made quick work of washing up and brushing his teeth in the communal baths for his part of the camp, fortunately alone throughout. Fresh as he was going to be, he dressed again and made for Hux’s tent. He didn’t knock or whistle a call; he just slipped inside. He found Hux in the midst of piling a number of cushions from the periphery of the tent near the center. He was in only his undershorts again, which Ben certainly appreciated.

“There you are,” he said. “Come here.” He got to his feet as Ben approached and immediately went for the ties of Ben’s shirt. Ben almost laughed, but held back as Hux hurriedly got him bare. Hux hummed as he tongued Ben’s sternum. “I have something in mind for tonight. Why don’t you lie down on the cushions, there?”

Ben looked at the pile curiously. They were stacked so high that he would have to bend over to rest his chest on them, leaving his ass propped up in the air. As if Hux could see what was going through his head, he said, “That’s right. I need to see you for this. On your knees, bent at the waist.”

Ben did as he was bid, kneeling in front of the cushions and then resting his chest on them. He was utterly exposed from behind, but if Hux had had him sitting on his face not so long ago, it couldn’t be worse than that. Breathing, he willed himself to be still and not ask too many questions. In the end, Hux treated him well and guided him through whatever he had planned. He nearly jumped, though, when Hux set both hands on his buttocks and spread him.

“Have you ever had anything inside you, Ben?”

Ben swallowed heavily. “No.”

Hux rubbed one of his thumbs between Ben’s cheeks, down over his entrance. “I won’t force you, if you’d rather not, but if you want to try it, I’d like to do that for you.”

“You want to fuck me?” Ben asked, the words trembling only a little.

“Not tonight,” Hux replied. “I want to use one finger to massage you. You know about that, don’t you?”

Ben did; his sexual education included the ins and outs of anatomy. He knew it was supposed to feel good to have the prostate stimulated, even that he could climax from it—if differently than the usual way.

“I know about it,” he said. “It’s supposed to be...nice.”

Hux laughed lightly. “That’s a mild way of putting it. It’s difficult to describe if you’ve never experienced it, but I promise you that it’s better than ‘nice.’ Will you let me do that to you?”

Ben nodded, but when he realized Hux couldn’t see it, he said, “Yes.”

“I won’t hurt you,” Hux said. “Just as you said you won’t hurt me.” His nose nudged Ben’s sacrum as he kissed the top of his cleft.

“I know,” Ben said.

Hux shifted behind him, saying, “A little cool for a moment,” as he drizzled oil down Ben’s cleft, catching it with his finger just over Ben’s entrance. He focused his attention there, gently rubbing the tight muscles with the pad of a slick finger. “It can feel strange at first,” he said, “and if you don’t care for it, we can stop at any time. Just say so.” When Ben didn’t reply straight away, he pressed: “Tell me if you understand.”

“I do,” Ben said.

“Very good,” Hux murmured. He increased the pressure of his fingertip against Ben, beginning to ease it into him. Ben tensed and Hux shushed him, rubbing soothing circles on his back with his free hand. “Just relax for me.”

Ben breathed out and tried to release around the intrusion. Hux moved in deeper, increasing Ben’s sense of fullness. If this was only one finger, he couldn’t imagine what it would be like to take a cock into him. He put the idea from his mind now and tried to enjoy the feeling of that finger.

Hux slid in more, until his knuckles met Ben’s skin. “There. That’s all. Are you all right?”

“Yes,” Ben replied. Despite his best efforts to loosen up, he constricted around Hux’s finger. He expected to be told again to relax, but he heard Hux groan.

“That’s very good, Ben,” he said. “It’s been a long time since I’ve been with someone untrained. You’re silken, and tight.”

“Oh,” Ben said. “It’s...okay?”

Very minutely, Hux rubbed his finger over a spot inside him that made Ben gasp. It wasn’t like the sensitivity of his cock when he touched it, but a deeper sensation rooted in his lower half. Admittedly, it was strange and new, and he wasn’t quite sure if it was actually pleasurable. Hux pressed again and the tingling spread through Ben’s pelvis.

“I’m going to try this,” Hux said, “but if it doesn’t feel good after a few minutes, we can stop. It’s not always potent the first time, or even the second. It might not ever be for you. Every man is different. But if you respond to this, there’s nothing else like it.”

Ben adjusted his legs, spreading them wider to get a better base of support for himself. “Okay. I’m ready.”

Hux pressed another kiss to his lower back as he began to move his finger in a small circle around the spot. The odd feeling of pressure began to build more under Ben’s cock, which wasn’t filling.

“Am I, um,” he mumbled. “Am I supposed to be hard?”

“You don’t have to be,” Hux replied. “This is different than touching yourself. Is it getting any better?” He moved from circles to shallow back-and-forth strokes. “How’s that?”

The tingles spread and began to intensify, building just behind Ben’s testicles. “I like that,” he said, in earnest.

Hux hummed, keeping up the lazy massage. “Tell me if you want something different: harder or faster. I want you to enjoy this.” He bent over Ben’s back, pressing his warm chest to him and kissing the wings of his shoulder blades. “You’re stunning when you come. Do you know that? There’s no artistry to it, no false show. I’d forgotten how beautiful it is to see that abandon.”

Ben shuddered under the compliments. He hadn’t heard anything like it before—but he hadn’t been in a position to have anyone see him climax. “I want you to like it,” he managed to say around his body’s suddenly heightened response. The pressure was starting to build pleasurably, and the blood in his belly dropped to his cock.

“I do,” said Hux, his finger never stilling inside of Ben. “I want to watch you lose yourself again tonight. I’ve been thinking of nothing else today. Even when I was supposed to be listening to the talks, my mind was on you.”

“That officer you were talking to before dinner,” Ben said. “He’s interested in you.”

“Lieutenant Falax?” Hux said. He clicked his tongue. “You’re jealous of _him_? Whatever for? I wouldn’t deign to go to bed with him when I have you.”

“ _Stars_ ,” Ben whispered. Under Hux’s hands, he was slack and pliable, completely at his mercy.

“You’re remarkable,” Hux continued. “I can’t get enough of this.”

Ben groaned into the cushions, overcome. The insistent sensation inside him was mounting steadily, and his cock was hard. He wanted to stroke himself, but he didn’t dare—not when Hux was so diligently working to give him a different kind of pleasure.

“Keep going,” he said. “Please, Hux. It’s good, now. It’s really good.”

Hux took hold to Ben’s thigh with his left hand, keeping up the pace with his right. “You’re shaking. You might be getting close.” He bent and nipped at Ben’s buttock. “Give me everything you have. Let it take you.”

Ben was panting, his cheek resting against the cushions as his legs trembled and knees grew weak. Thoughts of the unaccustomed fullness were chased from his mind, his focus completely on the deep sensation in his gut. Hux was still murmuring quiet encouragements from behind him, and his fingers dug into Ben’s hamstring.

“There, now,” he said. “Don’t think about it, just feel. Come for me, Ben.”

Ben couldn’t perform on command, but he pressed into the cushions as he felt himself breaking maybe half a minute later. “Hux, _Hux_ ,” he said. “Oh, stars, I can’t breathe. Can’t think— _ah_!” The tingling exploded into pleasure unlike anything he’d experienced before, wracking him and wrenching desperate sounds from his mouth.

It went on for what seemed like whole minutes, and when it was finally over, he could do nothing but collapse onto the cushions. He noticed only then that his face was damp with tears.

Hux moved around beside him and set to stroking his hair, his shoulder. “That was incredible to watch,” he said. “You’re unlike anyone I’ve been with before.”

Ben blinked blearily at him. “You said that yesterday.”

“I mean it even more now,” said Hux. He leaned in to kiss Ben’s brow. “Why don’t you lie down?”

With gentle hands, he guided Ben down onto his back. Ben was boneless and certain that he couldn’t stand up without falling. Hux laid both hands on his chest, teasing his nipples lightly. Ben was too spent for it to affect him.

“Would you like a cup of wine?” Hux asked.

Ben shook his head. He didn’t need something else to make his head spin.

Hux smiled down at him. “All right.” Taking one hand from Ben’s pectoral, he wrapped it around his cock and began to stroke himself. Ben perked up despite the deep exhaustion and reached for him. “Not like that,” Hux said.

“How?” said Ben.

Hux moved up until he could sit astride Ben’s shoulders. He braced one hand above Ben’s head, keeping hold of himself with the other. “Open your mouth,” he said.

Ben did, and Hux fed his cock inside, a heavy weight on Ben’s tongue.

“You don’t have to move,” Hux told him. “I won’t choke you.”

Ben had no way to speak, but he gripped the backs of Hux’s thighs, hoping that was answer enough. Hux started to thrust slowly, pushing himself deep into Ben’s mouth and then drawing out again. Ben sucked at him, making him groan. His eyes were closed, his red hair hanging down over his forehead, a strand or two caught in his eyebrow. He was the most gorgeous man Ben had ever seen.

Ben’s jaw began to ache as Hux continued to use him—faster now. Hux was grunting with the effort of both taking and controlling himself, and Ben was ready to taste him. He didn’t get the chance, however. Hux pulled out of his mouth and stroked himself off at the last, coming on Ben’s throat and up to his chin. In the aftermath, he hung his head while he caught his breath.

“Let me clean you up,” he said as he swung his leg back over Ben and crept over to retrieve a cloth. He wiped his spend from Ben’s skin before tossing the towel aside.

Ben expected him to lie down beside him then, but Hux’s gaze fell between Ben’s legs. Ben flushed. Even after the climax he had already had, he was hard. It was difficult not to be after having Hux in his mouth and seeing his pleasure so vividly. Hux grinned and moved down, parting his thighs to kneel between them. Ben groaned far too loudly as Hux began to suck him.

When he came, it was more familiar and less intense than the previous climax, but it was still sweet release. Hux poured a cup of wine to wash away to taste of him before he went to Ben’s side and tucked his head into the crook of Ben’s shoulder. Ben wrapped his arms around him.

“Thank you,” Ben said. “That was amazing.”

Hux laughed softly. “You don’t need to thank me for something we both enjoyed. But I’m glad you liked it.”

Ben traced idle circles on Hux’s back with his fingertips. “What happens when you go back to your posting? Do you work on a planet or a ship?”

“A ship,” Hux replied. “My father is the commanding officer. I work with the ground troopers in their training program. It’s my own design and I’m very pleased with it.”

“You want to be a general someday,” said Ben.

“Yes. It’s not a matter of if I will be, but when. My father will have to retire sometime, and when he does, I’ll be there to fill the void.”

Ben could see him at the head of an army, cool and deadly—without mercy. He was everything a Jedi shouldn’t want, but Ben couldn’t resist him.

“You know,” Hux continued, “a man with your particular talents would be an invaluable asset to the First Order. We’ve no one like you, but could certainly put you to good use.”

“As what?” Ben asked. “A soldier, like you?” The idea put a bad taste in his mouth. Though he was trained in combat forms—and very keen on them—he couldn’t see himself leading troopers into battle.

Hux tapped his fingers on Ben’s arm. “Not like me, no. You’re something altogether different. You can do things I can’t even imagine, I’m sure.” He paused, but then added, “And you wouldn’t be bound by your master’s rules there. You could make your own decisions and take on what tasks _you_ wished to.”

Ben considered, but said, “I’m not finished with my training. I wouldn’t be very useful if I’m not a master of the Force. I’m not even an apprentice yet.”

Hux set his chin on Ben’s breastbone, looking at him. “Then train, and when you’re ready, come to us.”

Ben tugged him close. It was enticing, to be honest, but it would be years before he was a made a master. “You’ll have forgotten me by then,” he said.

Hux’s brows drew together. “You think I’d forget you so easily? I won’t.”

“I won’t, either,” said Ben, tipping his chin down to give Hux an awkwardly angled kiss. “I’ll think about it. Is that enough for now?”

“It’s all I can ask,” Hux said. He lay back down onto Ben and sighed. “Sleep with me for a while. I usually wake before sunrise. You can go then.”

Ben warmed with contentment. He couldn’t think of anything he wanted to do more at that moment. “I won’t want to go,” he murmured. “I’m yours, and I want stay with you.”

Hux hummed. “Mine. Yes. My Ben.”

Nestled with Hux in his arms, Ben slept.


	6. Sixth Night

Hux had woken just before daybreak, easing himself out of Ben’s embrace and going to relieve himself outside. He went totally bare, his body white against the still-dark sky. Ben dressed while he was gone, took a drink of the wine in place of water, and then sat waiting on the cushions. Hux slipped back into the tent soundlessly, standing above where Ben sat. He was unabashed in his nakedness and Ben yearned for that kind of confidence in his body.

“It’s a shame you have to go,” Hux said, stroking a hand over Ben’s hair, tugging lightly on the padawan’s braid. “Will you come join me for lunch today?”

Ben peered up at him. “You mean...with everyone watching? I thought you said we shouldn’t be together where they could see.”

Hux drew in a breath, his belly moving up and in under the curve of his ribcage. Ben traced the edges of those prominent bones and then down to the softness around Hux’s navel.

“I know what I said, and you’re right that we shouldn’t, but…” He sank down onto his knees across from Ben and took his face between his hands. “We have so little time left together.”

Regretful discontent rose in Ben’s stomach. “I know,” he murmured.

Hux ran his tongue along his upper teeth, clearly thinking. “Oh, kark it,” he said after a moment of quiet. “Skip the meetings; we’re not needed anyway. Spend the day with me.”

“ _What_?” Ben asked. Hux’s eyes were alight and Ben wanted nothing more than to give in, but he said, “Luke won’t like it. And what about your father?”

“He doesn’t care,” Hux said. “His patience for this whole summit is growing thin. He knows there’s no point to it. He won’t miss me.” Hux lifted an eyebrow. “And you’ve not said a word throughout the proceedings. What would bother Skywalker about your not attending?”

Ben swallowed as he tried to guess what Luke might say if he told him he would be skipping the talks to go stars-know-where with a First Order officer. He would likely forbid it completely, all the while looking at Ben with that marked disappointment that seemed reserved for him alone. Shirking responsibilities, he might say. Ben should decline outright, but Hux’s exuberance at the idea was bleeding through and affecting him, too.

“I’ll ask him,” Ben said. “But I can’t promise anything. If he tells me I have to stay, I’m not going to disobey him.” He averted his eyes. “I’m not that strong.”

“I understand,” said Hux. He kissed Ben’s lips—just a light peck. “If you’re given permission, sit with me at breakfast. I’ll be away from the others. I’ll know if you stay by the New Jedi that you’ll not be joining me.”

Ben pressed his brow to Hux’s. “What will you do if I can’t come?”

“Be alone,” Hux replied. “I’m accustomed to that.”

Wrapping his arms around Hux’s neck, Ben nuzzled his shoulder. “I’m alone a lot, too. There are a bunch of students at the school, but they don’t like me much. They have their own unity. I’m not part of that.” It made for solitary days and nights, and when he wasn’t training or meditating, he spent a great deal of time working on his calligraphy in the hut that served as his sleeping quarters and study.

Hux rubbed his palm in gentle circles on his back. “I appreciate my solitude, but I would be willing to sacrifice a good deal of it for you.” Guiding Ben away from him, he said, “You should go. I’ll wait for you at breakfast.”

Ben kissed him once more—lingering this time—and then slipped out of the tent. He dressed after a quick shower and made for Luke’s tent. There was no sense, after all, in waiting; it would just convince him he would be refused and have to sit in on the meetings again.

Despite the early hour, he expected to find Luke already awake; he rested quite little, often meditating more than actually sleeping. The toes of Ben’s boots were damp with dew by the time he arrived, though it wasn’t in the least cool. At the entrance to the tent, Ben rapped on the support pole with his knuckles and said, “Uncle Luke?”

One of the sides of the tent was swept aside as Luke appeared. “Ben, good morning.” He had on his beige robes, a length of fabric wrapped around his shoulders—too much for this weather—but his feet were bare. “Do you need something?”

“Yes,” Ben said, too quickly—almost before Luke was even done speaking. “I’d like to skip to the meetings today.”

Luke’s surprise was plain on his face, lines on his forehead appearing above his lifted brows. “And do what, might I ask?”

Ben held himself tall—quite a few inches taller than his uncle. “You remember Lieutenant Hux? He spoke to you yesterday. I’d like to...spend some time with him today.”

Luke scrutinized him closely, his lips pressed tight together. “What does that entail?”

“I want to know more about the First Order,” Ben replied, earnest enough. “Even though we’ve been here for five days, we haven’t learned anything about what it’s like to grow up with them. I’m curious, and Lieutenant Hux is willing to speak to me about it.”

“I wasn’t aware you had an interest in them,” Luke said. “I could have had you do some preparatory reading before we came.”

Ben pressed: “It would be best to learn firsthand, don’t you think? And Hux— _Lieutenant_ Hux—has spent his whole life in the Order.” He opened his hands. “Isn’t it a kind of diplomacy in itself?”

To Ben’s surprise, Luke smiled. “It is. And if you’re truly interested, I shouldn’t stop you.”

“Oh,” Ben said lamely. It had been far easier to make his case than he had anticipated.

Luke laughed, landing a hand on his shoulder. “I brought you here to learn about the wider galaxy, Ben. As an apprentice, you’ll soon play a larger role in it. If that means spending a few hours with a First Order officer near your age, that will be good for you. And maybe you can share with him our ways.”

“I’ll try, Uncle,” said Ben. “If he’s willing to listen.”

“You’re our ambassador today, then. Represent us well.” He asked, “Are you on your way to breakfast?”

Ben nodded. “I’ll go now.”

“Of course,” said Luke. “Don’t wait for your old uncle.” He clapped him on the back by way of parting and then went back into the tent.

With that strange blessing, Ben turned on his heel and hastened across the camp to where their main dining space was. Most of the tables were empty, but Hux was unmistakable at his place near the far end of one. He was picking at his pastry and tea as if displeased with them both. Ben went to retrieve his own plate—an identical savory pastry on it with some kind of purple jam and a helping of what passed for eggs and for fruit on this world—and then began the journey across the high-ceilinged tent to where Hux sat. Hux spotted him about ten feet from his table. When he smiled, Ben’s chest clenched with pleasure.

“Hello,” Ben said as he took a seat across from Hux. He might have sat next to him, but it seemed too familiar, even after their nights together.

“Good morning,” said Hux, wiping his hands on his napkin and pushing his barely touched pastry away. “I’m relieved to see you here. You talked Skywalker into it?”

Ben tore off a piece of pastry and slathered it with jam. “I didn’t have to argue much.” He recounted briefly the conversation.

“I don’t think we’ll be doing much by way of diplomacy,” Hux said, his voice low. “Unless it’s customary amongst the Jedi to do so unclothed.”

Ben almost choked on his pastry, swallowing heavily before coughing. Hux poured him a cup of water from the nearby pitcher and slid it across the table within reach. Ben downed half of it in a few desperate gulps.

“Was that really so shocking?” Hux asked, with a crooked smile.

“I guess not,” Ben grumbled, his throat raw. “It’s just...someone might hear.”

Hux shrugged. “Does it matter? Tomorrow morning we’ll all be gone from here.” Under the table, his foot tapped against Ben’s. “But that’s more than a day away yet.” He took a sip of his tea, asking, “What shall we do today?”

“I don’t know,” Ben replied. “Walk? Maybe down by the beach again. We could go swimming.” It was something they did often at the Jedi school. There were a good number of lakes in the area, and Ben enjoyed it.

“I don’t know how to swim,” Hux said. At Ben’s wide eyes, he continued: “I’ve spent all my life on star destroyers. The few times I’ve been planetside, I’ve never been there long enough to learn. It’s not a necessary skill for someone in the Order. Save a trooper, maybe.” He traced the lip of his teacup with a forefinger. “I’ve never even had a bath.”

“Never?” Ben said. “Not even as a baby?”

“The nurseries on ships don’t have that kind of water to spare. I was cleaned in a sonic, just like any other person on board.”

Ben had some holos of his mother and father giving him baths in the big tub in their apartment on Chandrila, where he had been born. Little toys had floated around him, some of which he already knew how to move with the Force. Those were tricks Luke had taught him during his visits, before he had established his school.

“Where was your mother?” Ben asked.

Hux’s shoulders went rigid and his casual air snapped into something icy. “Dead. As far as I know.”

“I’m sorry,” said Ben.

Hux tapped the fingers of his left hand on the tabletop restlessly, but some of the tension in him released. “I don’t talk about my mother, or my birth. My father forbids it because it reminds his wife of what I am.”

_Which is?_ Ben didn’t have to say it; Hux went on: “A bastard. A byblow. I don’t know my mother’s name.” He scoffed. “I don’t know if my father even does.”

Ben knew it wasn’t right to offer condolences, not when Hux spoke spitefully rather than with pain or regret. Instead, he tapped Hux’s foot with his under the table in silence.

“But you don’t want or need to hear about that,” Hux said, shifting in his seat and drinking the last of his tea. “Though I can’t go deep into the water, perhaps we can wade in a little. I might actually like that.”

“Sure,” said Ben. “Let me just finish this.” He picked up a fork and set into the rest of his breakfast. Hux watched with amused disgust—which he voiced as such—as he put it all down quickly and without ceremony.

“Here,” Hux said, shoving his plate over to Ben. “Have this, too.”

Ben gladly took the pastry, covered it in jam, and ate it.

“A growing boy, aren’t you?” Hux teased.

Ben flushed, but shrugged one shoulder. “I like breakfast.”

Hux chuckled. “Clearly. Well, if you’re finished, shall we go?”

They left their dishes for the droids and walked side-by-side through the center of the tent. A few gazes followed them, not the least curious of which was Leia’s. She didn’t look altogether pleased, either, but when Luke laid a hand on her arm and said something in her ear, she went back to her food.

Clear of the tent, Ben and Hux began the walk down to the seashore. As they approached the narrow stairs down the bluff, Hux held his hand open expectantly. Ben put his into it and they continued on, joined. On the beach, Hux sat on a rocky outcropping and zipped his tall boots open, pulling them off. His socks and trousers followed. Ben was content to watch, but Hux said, “Are you going to let me go in alone?”

Ben scrambled then to removed his own clothes, leaving them in a pile next to Hux’s. Hux stood at the very edge of the water in only his undershorts, the foam from the waves lapping at his toes. He seemed apprehensive, but Ben didn’t ask him if he was afraid.

Ben brushed his fingers along Hux’s forearm and down to take his hand again. “Come on,” he said. “It’ll feel nice.” He led Hux out into the water, until they were knee-deep. He paused there to let him get used to it before drawing him farther out. He stopped only when he felt Hux’s resistance; they were in up to their waists.

Holding both of Hux’s hands now, Ben spread them wide and swung them through the saline water. Their skin would be dry from it, after. Maybe they would have to have a shower. He very much liked the idea of soaping Hux from head to toe in one of the small cubicles in the shared facilities.

“What do you think?” Ben asked.

Hux looked between the greenish hue of the sea and Ben’s face. “I’ve not seen this much water before.” He turned his face toward the open ocean. “It’s novel.”

Ben had to laugh. He had expected something more dramatic, or even poetic. But he had a feeling Hux didn’t have much poetry in him. For Ben, who loved the ancient texts, many of which were written in verse, it seemed a shame; but Hux didn’t lack much for it. Maybe, though, he might suffer Ben reading some in the future.

Ben caught himself. A shared future was a perilous thought. It would mean that Ben would have to leave the New Jedi, something he was afraid he wouldn’t have the courage to do. It may have been stifling in its way, but it was all he knew; it was home and family. He would know nothing of what awaited him in the First Order, beyond Hux. But he couldn’t imagine clinging to his side when Hux had duties to attend to. He had said Ben could be of use to them, but what that use could be was anyone’s guess.

“You’re thinking very deeply,” Hux said, drawing their hands back and guiding Ben’s arms around his waist to hold him.

“It’s like you can see my thoughts,” said Ben.

Hux set his palms on Ben’s chest. “You don’t hide them very well. It’s easy to read your face.” He cocked his head the side. “Do you not have to hide how you feel amongst your Jedi?”

They were taught to keep their emotions in check, but not necessarily to hide them. Ben said as much to Hux.

“Hm,” Hux said thoughtfully, “well, it’s a survival skill in the First Order.” He touched Ben’s cheek. “We’d have to get you a mask, I think.”

Ben wrinkled his nose in distaste. “I wouldn’t like that.”

“No,” said Hux. “And I wouldn’t want to hide your face.” Drawing Ben in, he kissed him. The water lapped at their midsections as they held each other there.

After a time, Ben dunked his head under the water and, frisky, poured handfuls of it over Hux’s red hair. Hux played at offense, but he let Ben do it, eventually allowing a full dunking, too. Ben supported his back as he tried to float. It clearly made Hux nervous, and yet he tried everything Ben suggested. By the time Ben finally suggested they get out of the water, Hux could move around a little on his own.

“You’ll be a good swimmer if you practice,” Ben said as they sloshed through the shallows back to shore.

“Not much chance of that,” said Hux. His hair was slicked down to his head, showing the shape of his skull.

They had no towels, so they lay out on the beach until they were dry enough to dress again. Afterward, they returned to the main camp, where most everyone was gathered in one of the larger tents. Ben and Hux avoided it, instead going to the cliff behind Hux’s lodgings and sitting in the long grass.

“I told my uncle I would ask you about growing up in the First Order,” Ben said. “We already talked about a lot of it, though, before.”

“Yes, we did,” said Hux, breaking off the tip of a frond of grass and rubbing the velvet seeds at the top. “I can give you more to report to him, if you need that.”

Ben shook his head. “I don’t think he’s really going to ask me about it. It was just the best excuse I could come up with.”

Hux wagged the frond of grass at Ben’s nose. “You wouldn’t have to make excuses if you came with me to the Order. There is no reason, there, that we can’t be together.”

“You’d really want that?” Ben asked. “You’ve only known me for five days. You’d probably get tired of me in five more.”

“ _Tsk_ ,” Hux admonished with a click of his tongue. “If I took you to the Order, I would be responsible for you, and I do not make that offer lightly.”

Ben blinked at him. “I would live with you?” The prospect wasn’t without its appeal.

Hux tapped the tip of the grass on his shining black boot. “I don’t have private quarters at this time. A lieutenant bunks with three others. There’s not a great deal of space on a star destroyer.”

“I thought they were whole kilometers long,” Ben said. “Surely there’s space enough.”

“Life support and weapons systems take up a lot of it. Living quarters are not lavish.” He stripped the grass of seeds and let them fall next to his knee. “But some affordances are made for couples and families.”

Ben asked, “There are families aboard? But you were in a nursery.”

“My father’s wife Maratelle does not live on the ship,” Hux replied. “She has a residence elsewhere, and my father was far too busy to see to childcare. Everyone on board works. Families are permitted to live together, but both spouses are expected to fulfill their daily duties unless a woman is actively in or recovering from childbirth.”

In truth, Ben’s family life had been much the same. After he was born, Leia had found nanny droids for him while she was working with the Senate and while Han Solo was away on one of his jobs. They played at being a family for a few months, but they both worked, leaving Ben behind on Chandrila. Sending him to Luke’s school was no terrible parting for them.

“So,” Ben said, “if I came with you, would we get some of those affordances?”

“Perhaps,” said Hux. “If I were of higher rank, certainly. We’d be given quarters of our own.” He laid a hand on Ben’s thigh. “Once we found work for you, of course.”

Ben chewed his lower lip. “What would that be?”

“I don’t know, but I’d imagine the high command would want to know of you, maybe even the Supreme Leader himself.” Hux squeezed his knee. “You have very special abilities.”

“That’s good?” Ben asked.

Hux smiled. “Oh, yes.”

They stayed on the cliff for a while longer, Hux describing the interior of the star destroyer where he was currently posted under his father’s command. To hear him talk, Brendol Hux was incompetent at best and foolishly ineffective at worst.

“He called me useless once,” Hux said. “Perhaps I was, then, but I’m making myself invaluable to the Order. To lose me would be a terrible blow.”

From where he lay next to him, Ben said, “Would you want to leave?”

“Never.”

They skipped the formal lunch hour but went to the dining tent to retrieve something to eat a little later. It was a simple meal of bread, cheese, and a cold soup that they shared at their own table—this time sitting side-by-side. When they were finished, Hux led them back to his tent, where they disappeared for a few hours. Their diplomatic relations were, in fact, done without clothes, and Ben was left panting and sated after Hux had gotten down on his knees, Ben behind him, and bid him take his pleasure fast and hard.

“Do you think you’d want to try it?” Hux asked, fiddling with Ben’s braid a few minutes later. “I doesn’t bother me if you don’t, but I’m more than willing to guide you through it for your first time. You liked what we did last night.”

Ben was ashamed, but had to ask in reply, “It doesn’t hurt, does it?”

“Of course not,” Hux replied. “If it hurts, you’re doing it all wrong. We don’t have to—”

Ben cut him off: “I want to.”

Hux gathered him to his breast and kissed the crown of his head. “I’ll be good to you, Ben. I’ll always be good to you.”

 

****

 

At dinner, Ben sat with Luke and told him some of the things he had learned of the First Order that day. Luke seemed content to listen and offer occasional commentary, but in the end said he was simply satisfied to know that Ben had gotten the answers to his questions.

“He doesn’t look much like the father,” Luke said with a glance across the room at Hux. “Save for the coloring. Good-looking boy, though.”

Ben didn’t like the percipient way Luke looked at him a moment later. “I guess,” he mumbled around his mouthful of mashed tubers.

When the meal was over, Ben made his excuses and left the tent. He was just stepping into the shadows outside of the illuminators’ reach when a hand closed around his bicep. Startled, he spun around and broke free of the hold, reaching for the place on his belt where his lightsaber hung.

“It’s all right,” Hux said. “It’s just me.”

Ben released the hilt of his saber. “Don’t sneak up on me like that. Three seconds later, I would have killed you.” He couldn’t see well, but he felt Hux take hold of his hand and move it to rest on the grip the blaster Hux wore at his waist.

“I’m not helpless,” said Hux.

“No, you’re not.” Ben moved in closer, finding Hux’s shoulders in the dark. “Were you waiting for me?”

“I was.”

“Why?”

Hux slid a hand into Ben’s hair, disordering it and tugging just a little, which Ben liked more than he would have expected. Hux said, “To take you to bed.”

Ben blinked as if it could make Hux easier to see. “Right now?”

“Right now,” Hux said, leaning in to brush his nose against Ben’s and then giving him a gentle kiss. “I want us to take our time, to have the whole night before us. Do you object?”

“Well,” Ben said hesitantly, “I usually wash up before I come to your tent. I don’t want to be dirty.”

Hux chuckled. “Oh, Ben, you’re so very good.” His hand cupped the back of Ben’s neck. “But there’s an additional step to that tonight, which you’ll need to do...to be ready to take me.”

Ben was glad the dark hid his blush and how he looked away. “There is?” he asked.

Hux’s hands moved to hold his face between them. “It’s part of cleaning. I did it before you fucked me today, and the first time. It’s not too much, I promise. If you’ve reconsidered this, though—”

“I haven’t,” said Ben, insistent. “It’s just...new.”

“Of course, it is. It was for me, once.” He bumped his forehead against Ben’s. “I’ll show you, but you’ll have your privacy.” Ben could almost hear his smile as he said, “I know you can be shy.”

Ben said, childishly, “I’m not.”

Hux kissed him again, taking his hand and threading their fingers together. “Then come on.”

They went first to Hux’s tent, where they retrieved what they would need, and then entered the communal showers on his side of the tent camp. There was no one else around, which Ben was glad for as Hux led him to a shower stall and began, slowly, to undress him. Ben lifted his arms when he was told to, so Hux could lift his tunic away, and stepped out of his trousers on command. Hux remained in his uniform, leaving Ben only to go to a sink and fill the little bulb he had brought with warm water. His instructions were firm and simple, easy enough for Ben to follow.

“I’ll wait outside,” Hux said, and then disappeared around the corner.

Ben cleaned himself carefully with a few rounds of warm water and, though it was strange, he felt better afterward. He washed the little instrument with soap and, tucking it back into its case, put his clothes back on—save for his boots, which he carried in his left hand.

Hux was leaning against the wall when he came outside and he offered Ben a smile. “All right?” Ben nodded. “Good.”

Together, they returned to Hux’s tent, where the lamps were burning and it smelled of closed-in warmth. Ben dropped his boots at the entrance and went to sit at the center, on one of the plush red cushions. Hux lingered by the front of the tent, leaning on the support pole and looking at Ben.

“What?” Ben asked.

“Just appreciating what I have,” Hux replied. He bent to remove his boots and then crept across the cushions in his stocking feet to brush his hand over Ben’s hair again. “You’re a singular person, Ben Solo.”

Ben moved up into his touch. “I don’t know what that means,” he said.

“You will,” said Hux.

They stripped each other down then, between long kisses and tastes of each other’s skin. Hux had wanted to take his time, and he did, lavishing Ben with the kind of attention and affection he had never known from anyone else. Ben preened under it, finding the confidence he had sought that morning. Hux wasn’t bothered by his lanky limbs and the rangy muscles that Ben hoped would someday fill out into something more substantial. Instead, Hux pressed his lips to all of him until Ben was trembling with desire and his cock was so hard it hurt.

Hux pointedly ignored that part of him, though he took Ben’s testicles into his mouth and sucked at them gently. Ben let him do whatever he wanted; he was lost to anything but the feeling of Hux’s fingers and palms and the length of his slender body against his. He was all soft skin and quietly murmured words, nips at the lobes and shells of Ben’s ears.

“I’m going to put my fingers inside you,” Hux said when they paused for breath. “You need to be stretched before you can take me. Are you still ready for this?”

Ben smiled, sex-drunk and lazy. “You don’t have to keep asking me. I want it.”

Hux gave a chastising little pull on his braid. “I won’t do anything you don’t want to. All that we do tonight is by your consent. Do you understand?”

“I do,” said Ben. “I promise I want to do it.”

“All right,” Hux said as he kissed his brow. “Bend over a cushion. Make sure you’re comfortable. And relax.”

Ben piled the cushions up as he had the night before, raising his hips and ass up for Hux to see. He wasn’t as self-conscious as he had been, especially now that he was clean inside and out. Taking steady breaths, he waited for Hux’s fingers and the slide of oil between his cheeks. However, Hux’s mouth came first, lapping his tongue at Ben’s entrance and then into him. Ben made a deep, satisfied sound as Hux worked, letting his head hang down between his arms.

“I want to do that for you,” he said, voice muffled. “Will you teach me?”

Hux paused to reply: “Maybe after we’re done. But your enthusiasm is appreciated.”

Ben laughed, though it faded into a groan as Hux drizzled oil onto him and circled his entrance with a fingertip before pressing inside. He was careful but assertive, going faster than he had last night. Soon he had two fingers inside and was pressing against Ben’s most sensitive places.

“Are you going to do that again?” Ben asked. He wasn’t sure if he was ready to have his body wracked and weakened so completely.

“Not tonight,” Hux replied. “This is just for a moment. Do you think you’re ready for the third finger?”

“Okay.”

This increased the feeling of fullness significantly, but Hux’s reminders to relax the muscles had Ben drawing the fingers inside himself readily. As Hux splayed them to widen him, he shuddered.

Hux soothed him with a hand on his back, saying, “I’ll be longer and wider. Not too large, mind you, but for your first time, it’s more than enough.”

Ben didn’t much like the suggestion that he would want anything more than Hux after this, but he didn’t voice it. He just allowed Hux to work him more and more open, until he felt deeply exposed.

“There,” said Hux as he pushed his fingers in to the third knuckle. “You’ll not get more ready than that. Are you well?”

“Mmhm,” Ben said. Some of his apprehension was back, but he knew Hux wouldn’t hurt him; he trusted him.

“Then come and lie on your back,” Hux told him. “I want to see your face when I’m inside you.”

Ben let Hux guide him down to lie, his legs open and Hux sitting between them. Hux’s cock was pink and hard, and Ben could see that he would be far more to take than three fingers. He swallowed, throat tight, but willed himself to be calm.

“I’ll ask just this last time,” Hux said. “Are you sure you want this?”

“Yes,” Ben replied, nodding. “I want it.”

Hux’s eyes burned as he took Ben in. “Singular,” he said. He went for the bottle of oil then and slicked himself generously. He positioned Ben’s hips and went down between them until Ben could feel the tip of his cock against his entrance. “Breathe,” Hux told him, and as he did, Hux entered him.

Ben’s mouth dropped open in shock, but not pain. Hux continued to push deeper—far more so than his fingers had reached. Ben’s heart sped up in his chest and he seemed to be able to feel its beats all the way down to his curling toes. He watched Hux’s expression go from one of concentration to pleasure as he finally slid all the way home, his ginger hair tickling Ben’s ass.

“It feels good for you?” Ben said; it came out a sight meeker than he might have hoped.

“Incredible,” Hux replied on a long exhale. “Are you comfortable?”

Ben didn’t want to lie, so he told him, “It’s a lot, but it’s okay, I think.”

Hux held himself up on one hand and used the other to touch Ben’s face. “I’m going to move. If you stop liking it, tell me at once. We don’t have to go on.”

“Don’t stop,” said Ben. “I want to be good for you.”

“You are,” Hux murmured. “You are.”

He drew out in a long stroke and then thrust back in, making Ben clutch around him. He groaned, apparently approving of that. Ben couldn’t bear down, though, instead going back to trying to relax and letting Hux move into and out of him. The invasiveness of it all faded over time—mostly because of the throaty sounds Hux was making as he fucked him. His eyes were tightly closed at times and at others he would look down into Ben’s with intensity powerful enough to shake Ben to his core. It was _possessive_ , the way he ate Ben up with his gaze, and Ben relished it.

“Touch yourself,” Hux said to him. “You can come like this.”

Ben reached between them and took himself in hand. He jolted at the sensation of even the first stroke; he was far closer to orgasm than he had thought. Only a few more minutes and he would push himself over the edge.

Hux could tell, he thought, and sped his own thrusts.

And so they rose together, Ben stroking himself while Hux was buried inside him. He was caught between two points of pleasure and overwhelmed by both.

“Hux,” he said shakily, “are you close? I’m...so close. Almost there.”

“Yes, Ben, _yes_ ,” was the broken reply. “Hold on for me just a little longer. I can’t ask you to, but—”

“Can we come together?” Ben asked. It seemed improbable, but if they could, he would be completely swept up in it.

“If we just…” Hux panted. “If we just...keep going a little more. You feel so good, _ah_! Now, Ben. Now!”

Tightening his grip on himself, Ben gave his cock a final two strokes and then he was crying out, spilling across his stomach and Hux’s. Hux pushed hard into him and went taut, face slack with pleasure. Ben clung to his back, his need urgent and potent. When, at last, they were both spent, Hux lay down on Ben’s chest and nestled his head in the crook of Ben’s neck. He remained inside of him, gradually going soft; it was strangely intimate to feel him let go.

“How do you feel?” Hux asked after an indeterminate time. “Are you getting sore?”

“Am I supposed to?” Ben replied.

Hux shifted some, until he could look Ben in the eye. “You probably will feel it tomorrow. That’ll go away as you get used to doing it, but—”

Ben caught his cheek in his hand. “With whom? I don’t have anyone else but you.”

Hux sighed, turning his head until he could kiss Ben’s palm. “Maybe not now, but you might in the future. You’re going to make an excellent lover. Don’t squander that.”

“Does that mean you won’t take me with you?” Ben said, frowning.

Hux’s red brows rose. “Is that you saying you want to go?”

Ben glanced away. “I don’t know. I don’t think I’m ready. I’m not even close to trained enough. I won’t be any good to you or the First Order like this.” To his shame, a fat tear escaped the corner of his eye. “But I don’t want to leave you.”

“Sweet Ben,” Hux said softly. “We’re at an impasse, but the choice is yours. I won’t push you either way.”

Ben pressed his lips together and turned his face into the cushion to hide another tear. He wanted to stay with Hux; he wanted to learn everything that he could teach him. He wanted to please him and see him promoted like he said he would be. But Ben was weak and still had so much to master in the ways of the Force. He couldn’t go with someone as capable as Hux until _he_ was more capable.

He whispered, “I can’t.”

“I see,” Hux said. “I understand.”

With care, he eased himself up and away to get a towel to clean them. He poured them a cup of wine to share and gestured for Ben to join him again. Ben curled up almost in his lap and let him pet his hair. He fiddled idly with the bead tied into Ben’s braid.

“Wait,” Ben said. He sat up and undid the knot at the end of the plait, slipping the bead free. He held it out to Hux. “Will you keep this? To remember me?”

Hux took it and rolled it between thumb and forefinger. “Of course.” He extricated himself from Ben’s embrace and took a length of chain from his uniform pocket. A pair of metal tags stamped with his name hung from it.

“We have identity implants,” he said, “but my father still believes we should wear these when we’re on duty.” Unclipping the fastener, he slid the blue bead down the chain and then hung it and the tags around his neck. “I’ll keep them—and you—with me.” Sorrowfully: “I have nothing to offer to you as a keepsake, I’m afraid. Except…” He went to his duffel and retrieved a small black bag, which he pushed into Ben’s hand with a sly smile. “You can have this.”

Even through the bag, Ben could make out of the shape of the plug Hux had worn two nights ago. “I guess it’ll do,” he laughed. Grinning, he grabbed Hux around the narrow waist and brought them both down onto the cushions. “We still have the rest of the night. Let’s use it.”

Hux returned his smile and pulled him in for a kiss.

 

****

 

In the morning, Ben didn’t bother to go back to his tent before breakfast. He wore yesterday’s clothes and walked next to Hux into the main tent. Uncle Luke shot him a very knowing and amused look, which Ben favored with a smile. Leia’s reaction was darker, as was Brendol Hux’s. Neither Ben nor Hux cared, though; they chose seats together and ate in their own company.

The First Order delegation was leaving first, with little having been accomplished. When Brendol pushed his plate away and stood, so did the others. Hux waited for a beat but then rose, too. Ben watched him step over the bench.

“Goodbye, Ben,” he said. It was formal and clipped, unlike the many times they had said it last night in the tent, when Ben was inside of him or they were tangled up together, half-asleep.

“Goodbye, Hux,” said Ben, staying in his seat.

There was no parting gesture on behalf of the New Republic or New Jedi. Leia and her aides and Luke just watched them leave, making their way toward where their shuttles awaited. Ben kept to his place, but the ache of loss in his chest only grew until he was scrambling over the bench and running through the dining tent. His mother’s call of his name went unheeded as he sprinted out onto the grass.

“Hux!” he cried as he ran, and both Brendol and his son turned to look. When his Hux saw him, he took a few steps closer. Ben nearly knocked him over as they collided, Ben’s arms around Hux’s waist. He kissed him hard. “When I’m ready,” he said stridently, “I’ll come find you.”

“I’ll wait as long as I have to,” said Hux, holding him tightly.

Ben gave him a last long kiss before drawing back and letting him go. Hux, pink in the cheeks and lips plush and damp, raised his hand to his chest, where his identity tags lay. And then he was turning away and joining the rest of the delegation again. Ben stood in the wash of the shuttles’ engines as they lifted away from the field.

Hux’s taste and his final touch would have to sustain him for all the years to come before they would meet again.


	7. Epilogue

**Five years later...**

 

Ben first heard the voice in his mind only a few weeks after the summit had ended. He was back at Luke’s school and his training: long, lonely days and nights during which he spent too much time thinking of Hux. He had been lying on his back in his hut when the distant, whispered words had floated into his head. It told him he could be far stronger than any of the others at the school if he explored the side of the Force Luke forbid—that he deliberately kept away from his students to keep them from surpassing him.

At first, Ben ignored it, but it persisted for not only weeks, but months and then years. The presence that called itself Snoke taught him skills he could use to best the other apprentices. He employed them carefully, so as not to give himself away, but he saw what he could accomplish and grew addicted to the rush of victory.

Over time, he became unsettled at the school and frustrated that Luke yet held him back from his full potential. And then he discovered his lineage: who his grandfather was and what he had done. Ben hated that he had been lied to for twenty-three years, and resented it beyond words. It was then that Snoke offered him a way out, a way to seek his true power and honor his grandfather.

_Kill them all and come to me. I will teach you, Ren. I will be your master._

Ben was too soft-hearted in the beginning to do such a thing, but on one of the nights when he slept in his hut, he had woken to his uncle—the teacher he had trusted his whole life—standing above him with his saber drawn, ready to strike him down. Luke had sensed his growing attachment to the dark side and meant to put a stop to it. Betrayed, Ben fought him off and did as Snoke had instructed: he laid waste to the school and all the apprentices and padawans. Stealing a shuttle, he had followed Snoke’s voice to a massive starship in the Unknown Regions. There, he discovered that Snoke led the First Order and that Ben had done as he had once promised Hux: he had defected.

Ben threw away his name, adopting the title that Snoke had always used with him: Ren. For a given name, he choose Kylo. Ben Solo died that day and was reborn in his new form. He began his training immediately, consumed by the potential for power and ability. He spent days alone with Snoke, developing the skills he had barely tapped before. He lost track of time as he worked, but when he was released and given quarters to rest in between bouts of training, he found himself procuring a datapad and logging on to the Order’s internal holonet. He had unfettered access to the personnel records, which brought him to one name: Armitage Hux.

He was a major now, but he was aboard the _Supremacy_ , serving the general who commanded it. Kylo sought his living quarters out, finding them on a far deck from his own. For an hour, he debated going to him—maybe he had forgotten Ben Solo or had another lover—but, in the end, gave in. He had to see him again, even if only to be turned away.

Kylo was conscious not to show his face often; he didn’t want to be recognized as the boy he had been. Before setting out for deck twenty-four, he wrapped a cowl around his shoulders and lifted the hood over his head. He made one more preparation, too, but one built on hope alone. It would likely come to nothing, and yet he did it all the same. He left his quarters, sweeping through the ship’s passages determinedly, even if he was almost trembling with nerves.

Hux’s door was unmarked, save for a number that designated it as his. He had said five years ago that he shared a room with three others, but now he had his own space. Kylo nearly stopped to knock, but decided simply to release the lock with the Force and go inside uninvited.

Hux was seated at a small durasteel desk, typing away at a console. He looked sharply up when Kylo entered and in seconds was on his feet and holding his sidearm, training it on Kylo. He looked much the same as he had when Kylo had last seen him: red hair severely styled and combed down, uniform in perfect order. He had said during the summit that he was quick with his blaster, and that seemed to be true.

“Who are you?” he demanded.

His voice was the same, too, and hit Kylo in the chest like a blow. He had heard that voice raised in pleasure and hushed with filthy whispers in Kylo’s ear, begging him for more, harder, deeper.

When Kylo didn’t immediately reply, Hux said, “Tell me how you gained access to my private quarters. _Who are you?_ ”

“You don’t need the blaster,” Kylo said at last. “I’m not going to attack you. And I could disarm you before you could even pull the trigger.”

Hux glared at him icly. “Reveal yourself and I’ll put it down.”

Kylo raised his hands to the sides of the hood and slowly lowered it, baring his face for Hux to see. The surprise showed openly in Hux’s expression.

“Ben Solo,” he said quietly.

“Kylo Ren,” Kylo corrected. “Now.”

Hux slowly lowered the blaster. “I’ve heard of this Kylo Ren, the Supreme Leader’s new apprentice. It’s you.”

Kylo nodded. He expected more questions, but Hux only set the blaster down on his desk and came around from behind it, approaching Kylo.

When he was just two paces away, he said, “You found your way to the First Order after all. I had hoped to see you again.”

Kylo breathed a deep sigh of relief, briefly closing his eyes. “You still remember me,” he said.

Hux looked him over from boots to nose. “You’ve grown.”

“It’s been five years,” Kylo said, though he lifted his chin and held his shoulders back proudly. He _had_ matured physically, concentrating on training his body and filling out. No more was he the gawky boy he had been at eighteen.

“It has,” said Hux. Gesturing to a small sofa by the aft bulkhead, he continued: “Come, sit, and tell me how you came to be here.”

Kylo told the story frankly and without holding anything back. He had always been totally truthful with Hux and he saw no reason to mince words now. He concluded with “I’ve been here for a week, maybe, but wasn’t free until today.”

“And you came to find me so quickly,” Hux said. The corners of his mouth turned up into a small smile and he reached a hand out to tug a lock of Kylo’s hair by his left ear. “You no longer have your little plait here.”

The touch sent all the blood in Kylo’s stomach racing toward his cock. He had remembered so vividly how Hux had pulled sweetly at the padawan’s braid. And Ben had given him the bead he had worn in it. He wondered if Hux still wore it on his identity tags.

Ever keen and able to read Kylo’s expressions, Hux let go of him and unfastened the collar of his uniform jacket. From inside, he drew a chain and the tags, and there was a glint of blue glass next to them. Kylo, tentative, took hold of the chain and rubbed the bead between thumb and forefinger.

“Why did you come here, Kylo?” Hux asked as he watched him. “To the Order, to me.”

Kylo looked up to meet his eyes and said, “I wanted to be free.”

This time Hux’s smile was bigger. “And are you?” he said.

“Nearly,” Kylo replied.

“What else do you need?”

Kylo tightened his hold on the chain, pulling Hux to him by it. “You,” he said just before he kissed him.

Hux delved into him right away, latching onto his cowl and yanking him closer. The kiss tasted just the same as it had that first time in Hux’s tent, though there was nothing forgiving about this one. They grasped at each other, and Hux moved in until he was all but sitting in Kylo’s lap.

“I thought of you every day,” Kylo said against his mouth, between fevered kisses.

Hux fisted a hand in his hair. “You were never far from my mind, either. I thought you wouldn’t come, but you did. You did.” He nipped at Kylo’s lower lip. “And you want me still.”

“I’ll always want you,” Kylo murmured.

Hux made a low sound of satisfaction and pulled away, if only to get to his feet and haul Kylo to his. He led him by the hand to his bed, where he began to remove his clothes. Despite the desperate kisses, he was methodical about it, putting himself on display. Kylo couldn’t keep his hands away from him as he undressed, running them up his narrow waist to his chest and then along his arms. He was still skinny and soft, which Kylo reveled in.

When he was naked, he stood for Kylo’s appraisal: his cheeks flushed and cock hard between his legs. “Are you going to fuck me in all your clothes?” he asked.

Kylo slid an arm around him and pulled him in. “No, and you’re going to fuck _me_.”

Hux’s red eyebrows rose, but he grinned. “If that’s what you want.”

“It is.” Going for his cowl, Kylo pulled it over his head. His tunic and trousers followed, his boots and socks discarded.

Hux looked him over hungrily, touching as Kylo had done him. “Stunning,” Hux said. “Now come to bed. On your knees.”

The command was meant to be obeyed, and Kylo crawled onto the mattress. He heard Hux suck in a breath and say, “ _Stop_ ,” as he caught sight of the bottom of the plug Kylo wore. It was the very one Hux had given him.

Creeping onto the bed behind him, Hux ran his fingertips down Kylo’s cleft, tapping lightly at the plug. “You prepared yourself for me,” he said, low. “That was very bold of you, Kylo.”

“I’m not a shy teenager anymore,” Kylo said, throwing a look over his shoulder.

Hux wet his lips. “No, you are certainly not. Shall I take it out?”

Kylo hummed in assent and pushed his ass back to encourage him. Hux wasn’t one to hesitate, so he curled his fingers around the bottom of the plug and slowly began to ease it out of him. He paused to let it sink back in, making Kylo groan, before removing it completely. Kylo was slick with lubricant already, but Hux reached for a drawer beside his bed and produced a half-empty green bottle.

“Have you had many lovers since I left you?” Hux asked as he slickened his cock.

“None,” Kylo replied. “I had my fingers and the plug, but no one else has ever touched me.”

“Stars above,” Hux sighed, bending down over Kylo’s exposed back and biting his shoulder. “I told you to take others, but you didn’t listen. Why not?”

Kylo said, “There wasn’t anyone who wanted me at the school and...I didn’t want them, either. All I ever wanted was you.” He got another bite for that.

“No,” Kylo said. He hadn’t expected it. Hux was in a wholly different situation than he had been in and it would have been too much to ask. After all, Hux hadn’t known Kylo would come to the First Order for certain. “But now there can’t be anyone else.”

Hux reached around under him and stroked his cock. “No one has ever matched you, and if I have you, I’ll not need anyone else again.”

It was then that he pulled back and lined up with Kylo’s entrance, smoothly pushing inside of him. The feeling of fullness long missed had Kylo hanging his head between his arms and gasping.

“Don’t hold back,” he said.

Hux didn’t. He held Kylo’s hips firmly and he thrust into him with grunts of pleasure. Kylo let him have his way until Hux insisted that he turn over onto his back. When Kylo was laid out for the taking, Hux guided his cock into him again and kissed him messily while he fucked him.

“Sweet Ben,” he said, forgetting the new name. Kylo didn’t mind; it brought back all the memories he had cherished for years. But now he was in the present and Hux was with him again.

Hux came in him not long after, breathing ragged on Kylo’s face and pulse thrumming. He didn’t stay long, though, instead pulling out and lowering himself between Kylo’s legs. He took Kylo’s cock into his mouth and sucked him until he spilled himself down Hux’s throat. Spent and languid, they lay in each other’s arms on the warm sheets. This contentment hadn’t been a part of Kylo’s life since they had been together in Hux’s tent—maybe on the day they had parted.

“Did your father ever say anything to you about when I kissed you?” he asked as he drew absent circles on Hux’s upper arm and shoulder.

Hux replied soberly, “Of course, he did. And the punishment was...severe.”

“What did he do?” Kylo said, almost a growl.

“He didn’t beat me, if that’s what you’re thinking,” Hux said. “He couldn’t get away with that by the time I was a lieutenant, but I had gotten my share when I was coming up after the Academy.” He sighed, chest contracting against Kylo’s. “He sent me to a backwater planet to train locals for the militia for eight months. It kept me from my command training and set me back considerably.”

“For _one kiss_?” Kylo said. Luke had laughed if off and never mentioned it again, and fortunately Leia hadn’t been there to witness it. Ben would have gotten a lecture from her for certain—conveying her usual disappointment in him.

“You were not a suitable partner for me,” said Hux, “according to my father. Having any kind of association with the New Jedi was beneath us.”

Kylo stroked a possessive hand over Hux’s hair. “Where is he now? Your father.”

“Dead and spaced,” Hux replied, sounding smug. “Out of the way of my command, and now out of _our_ way.”

“You want to...make something of this?” Kylo asked, tense and fearful of the reply.

Hux looked up to rest his chin on Kylo’s sternum, eyeing him. “I thought that was obvious.”

Kylo touched his pink cheek. “I like to hear you say it.”

“What does your training consist of?” Hux asked, an abrupt change of subject.

“It’s physical and mental,” Kylo replied. “Combat, meditation, exercises to hone my mind. I don’t know how all of it will be yet. We’ve just started.”

Hux laid a hand on his chest, circling the nipple with his forefinger. “Then you’ll be on this ship for a while.”

“I think so,” said Kylo. “I can’t say for sure.”

Hux said, “Where are you quarters?”

“Deck eleven.”

“Too far,” Hux muttered, disapproving. “I don’t know that I have to apply to personnel because you’re not a part of the command structure, but we’ll have to get you moved down here somehow.”

Kylo grinned at the matter-of-fact way he said it, as if it, too, was a given. “Or you could come up to my quarters,” he countered. “They’re bigger.”

“Would that be permitted?” Hux asked, eyes bright and intent.

Kylo brushed the hair back from his brow. “I think I can do just about anything I want. If that’s you, then Snoke will allow it. He’s seen into my head; he knows what I think of you.”

“And what is that?” Hux said.

“That you’re mine,” Kylo replied.

Hux’s smile was sly. “I’m always my own man, Kylo, but I’ll be yours, too. I don’t think I can resist you. I was never able to before.”

Kylo hugged him close, nuzzling the crown of his head and breathing in his clean scent. “We’ll be strong together, I know it.”

“We will,” said Hux. “We’ll lead the Order someday, and the galaxy will be ours.”

Kylo burned with hope and affection him, this man he had come across the stars and the years to find again. Now they would be as one, and they would have everything they wanted and more.


End file.
